Junior X
by ravenhair
Summary: When tragedy takes their only child away, how far will one x couple go to have a second chance? Comicverse Kurt/kitty
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: All characters are marvel's. Don't sue me!!  
  
Junior X Chapter 1   
  
Suffer the Child.  
  
  
The sound of a child's laughter.  
  
It was the light of his world. The music that made his heart skip a beat. A young man bouncing his toddler son up and down on his right knee. The child's laughter became louder and louder, becoming so contageous that his father started laughing to tears. The young man then gathered the boy in his arms, stood up and started cuddling him. Yes, the man thought, life doesn't get any better than this.  
  
"You are my whole world, you and your mother," the man whispered in his son's ear, "You are both my dream come true." He kissed the child on the cheek as tiny, trusting arms wrapped his neck in the biggest  
bear hug a child of two could muster.  
  
Suddenly, for no reason, the boy began to cry. The young man gathered his son in a soothing hug and sat back down in the chair they were playing horsey on just seconds ago.  
  
"Oh, my baby. Shhhh. It's o.k. Tell daddy what's wrong. Why do you cry?" The man asked lovingly, cuddling his child and burying his face in its hair.  
  
"Daddy?" the child looked up into his father's eyes, chubby cheeks streaked with tears.  
  
"Yes, baby, tell daddy what's wrong." The father cooed, wiping the child's tears with the heal of his hand.  
  
"Why did you let me die?" The child's cries became heart-wrenching wails of pain. The man looked down at his son, blood spurting from the boy's chest into his lap.  
  
"Don't let me die, daddy!!!!" the child pleaded with it's father. " I'M SCARED!! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"  
An almost primal scream escaped from the boy's lips as he breathed his last, and his small, limp body fell lifeless in   
his father's arms.   
  
"NO!! NOT AGAIN!! " The young man screamed, "JACOB!! DON'T GO!!!! DADDY LOVES YOU!! DADDY'S SORRY!!"  
  
"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
And with that scream, Kurt Wagner awoke. Drenched in sweat from head to toe, salty tears stinging his soft, golden eyes. This was a nightly ritual for him,  
The nightmares playing over and over again in his tormented mind. He breathed heavily and started sobbing uncontrollably, trying to compose himself as to  
not awaken Kitty beside him. He felt his dinner rising in his throat. Quickly throwing back the sheets from the bed, he made his way to the bathroom, vomiting  
painfully into the toilet.  
  
After regaining his strength, he stood before the mirror and rinsed the perspiration from his face. He took a good, long look at himself. Large, Dark circles   
rimmed his yellow eyes. A grey hair here and there streaked through his thick, violet-black hair, which he had let grow past his shoulders the day he married Kitty.  
He had long hair briefly before he shaved himself smooth as a cue ball back in the excalibur days. He remembered Kitty had said she loved his long hair at the time,  
and grew it just for her. He would indeed do anything for her. He shook his head in exhaustion and pain. A migrain was beginning to pound in his temples, and it  
hurt to look at the light.   
  
He made his way down the hallway toward the kitchen. On his way down, another mirror in the hallway caught his eye as he also noticed wrinkles of exhaustion and grief  
were starting to line his face. His black t-shirt and grey sweat pants soaked in sweat. They hung loosly on his frame, as he had also lost a great deal of weight this  
past year.  
  
"You are pitiful, ja?" Kurt told his reflection, mocking it. "Did you think it was possible for you to have a normal life? WELL DID YOU?!!" He was screaming at himself in  
the mirror, and drew back his fist to shatter it. He caught himself at the last minute. Shaking his head again as tears started flowing again, he made his way on into the kitchen.  
  
"I hope I didn't wake Kitty." Kurt thought to himself as he sat himself down at the kitchen table. His beautiful wife, his precious Katzchen. He had loved her for so long,  
even when he was with Amanda,yet told her nothing, in fear he would ruin their friendship. After reassessing his decision to follow the priesthood shortly after Colossus's death, he came to the  
decison that life was to short to live it without the one you loved. To his delight, Kitty had felt the same way. After a whirlwind courtship, they had married. As if that didn't  
make him happy enough, Kitty gave him a child, their beautiful Jacob. "After all you have given me, I have let you down in so many ways, my love." Kurt mumbled to himself as he absent-  
mindedly sipped on a sprite to soothe his upset stomach. He glanced at the clock. "Two A.M." He mumbled to himself.  
  
Here he was, as he was every night the past year, sitting alone in the quiet of the kitchen to ponder if his life was worth living. Yet another night to replay the day his and his wife's  
life was shattered.  
  
His mind replayed every detail vividly. How the Friends of Humanity had invaded the mansion and kidnapped Ororo Munroe and Jacob, his darling son. How they fought to find them and broke into  
their compound. How he found the body of the beautiful ebony-skinned windrider that apparently tried in vain to shield the smaller, blue skinned corpse from death.  
  
Sobs once again wracked his body.  
  
He had pondered taking his own life, but he couldn't. He was scared. A coward. "You're a dirty, filthy bastard, Wagner" he thought to himself, " A total waste of human flesh."  
"You had everything. Your soulmate, Kitty. The one woman who made you feel loved and whole for the first time in your worthess life. She gave you a precious child, and what did you  
dO? WHAT!!!!!!" Kurt was screaming at himself again as he lay his head down on the table, his heart torn in two.  
  
"Kurt?" a sweet, female voice came from behind him. A beautiful woman, face framed in chestnut hair and eyes to match, sat down beside him, wrapping arms around him to comfort and soothe.  
  
"Oh, Kitty!!!" Kurt continued to sob as he lost himself in his wife's embrace. For the both of them,this had been a regular pasttime since the death of their precious son. Kitty's tears  
mingled with Kurt's. Kurt had been so strong for her, she thought, and he never thinks of himself.  
  
"Our whole life crumbled when Jacob died," Kitty moaned," But we have to move on, sweetheart, for both our sakes. We need to start over."  
  
Kurt rose to his feet and, in a fit of rage, slammed both blue fists down on the table in front of him, nearly breaking it in two. "How can we?!! We've been trying for six months now, and  
still nothing!!" Kurt and Kitty had been trying to have another child, but with no luck. The grief he still had for his lost son and the pain of unsuccessful attempts to have another child  
was breaking his heart. Kurt turned away, ashamed for yelling at his wife, and ran his hands through his long mane in exhaustion and remorse. He looked back down at his wife, who was now completely  
dissolved in tears, making his heart ache even more. Kurt sat back down, gathering Kitty in his arms. "Oh, Leibling!! I'm sorry!! I'm so sorry for yelling at you." He was sobbing again. " I have let   
everyone who has ever had anything to do with me down." Kurt sobbed.  
  
Kitty grabbed Kurt's face and forced him to look her in the eye. "Don't you dare say that again!!" Kitty scolded. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and don't you forget it!!"  
Kitty locked her lips onto Kurt's in a passionate kiss. Kurt smiled wainly and asked Kitty,"When will the test results be back?"  
  
"Tommorrow." Kitty smiled back. In their attempts to have another child, they had both ordered HanK McCoy to give them tests to see if anything was keeping them from having a child.  
  
"I'm sure everything is fine, Kurt. We just have to keep trying is all." Kitty ran her hands over Kurt's tense back. "Come back to bed, Love. Please try to rest. Have you been taking those sleeping'  
pills Hank gave you?"  
  
"Ja." Kurt smiled weakly.  
  
"I love you, Kurt. Never forget that." Kitty whispered.  
  
"And I you, Katzchen." Kurt wrapped his arms around Kitty and they made their way back to bed.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Dissappointment

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL' S NOT MINE!! DON'T SUE!!  
  
Chapter2  
Dissappointment  
  
"And how are you this morning, Mr. and Mrs. Wagner?" The cheerful Beast, better know as Dr Hank McCoy, asked the young couple. Kurt stood next to Kitty, arms around her shoulder in support. Hank  
smiled at the two. His eyes examined Kurt with the precision of any skilled physician.   
  
The young man looked horrible. The grief and pain in Kurt's heart was taking more and more of a toll on the german mutant's physical health, the good doctor could see. It pained Hank's heart to see two friends hurt  
so badly inside. "My God, Kurt looks so much older than his 27 years." Hank thought to himself.   
  
He had helped so many people in pain. It made his job and his life worthwhile. But for every life he improved or saved, it was usually weighed out by the horrible fact he also had to bear the weight of being the bearer of bad news that could shatter someone's life. Just as he had to do to the friends, whom he loved as family, this awful day.  
  
Hank looked at Kurt in concern. "How have the anti-depressants been working for you, my fine furred friend?" Hank asked.  
  
Kurt smiled crookedly. "Unglaublich." Kurt was lying through his teeth. Anyone who looked at Kurt could tell.  
  
Kurt looked terrible. Hank had at one time suggested Kurt seek psychiatric help to deal with his inconsolable grief. Kurt objected. For Kurt, that would be admitting to weakness, something he was not prone to do. He committed himself to being Kitty's "Rock" to lean on, as well as the attempt to have another child. "Poor Kurt" Hank thought, "Always looking out for others, never himself. He may looked like a demon, but he has the heart of an angel in heaven." This made the news he had to break to the two  
of them that much harder.  
  
"Perhaps the two of you should have a seat?" Hank offered the couple the two chairs in front of the lab table. Hank himself hopped atop the lab table gracefully with a folder in hand. For all his bulk, Hank was every bit as agile and athletic as Kurt himself.  
  
Hank cleared his throat and began." Well, I have the results of both your tests. Kurt has a very healthy sperm count, to say the least. And Kitty, you are ovulating and producing eggs as you should." Hank explained.  
  
"So there's nothing wrong. We can have a child?" Kitty asked, relief creeping in her voice.  
  
Hank hopped his glasses up on his nose nervously and shook his head. " Unfortunatly, " Hank said sadly," Your uterine wall was damaged when you had Jacob. While you do indeed produce eggs, the damage and scarring will make egg and embryo implantation  
in the uterus nearly if not impossible." Hank looked at the couple in deep regret. "I'm so sorry."  
  
Tears welled in Kitty's and Kurt's eyes once more. No second chances. No precious baby to cuddle and love.   
No walks in the park and first words or steps.   
  
Kitty lashed out. "NO!!! It's not fair Hank!! We wanted another baby so badly!!! Can't you do something!!  
God, Hank!! Of all the alien shiar technology you have and, and." Kitty was hysterical now. Sobbing uncontrollably.  
Yet another loss to deal with. Kurt was more certain now than ever that God was indeed punishing him.  
  
"Isn't there something you can do, Hank?" Kurt looked pleadingly at him with golden eyes streaming with tears.  
  
Hank went over options in his mind. Adoption? No. As bad as mutants were hated , there was no adoption agency   
in this world that would give two mutants a child. Hank brooded over and over in his mind.  
  
"There is one option." Hank said  
  
"That is?" Kurt asked, now intrigued.  
  
"Have you considered a surrogate?" Hank asked. " After all, you produce sperm, and Kitty produces eggs. We take   
one from each of you, where we fertilize the egg and implant it into a woman who is able to carry the child to term. The  
child is genetically yours, but must be carried in the body of another woman." Hank explained.  
  
Kitty became enraged. "You mean, I allow some stranger to carry MY CHILD FOR NINE MONTHS!! NO!!"  
Kitty screamed. " You don't understand!! I want this child to be mine and Kurt's project only!! I DON'T WANT  
any outsiders!!" Kitty sobbed and ran out the medlab.  
  
Kurt looked sorrowfully at Hank. "Thanks anyway, Hank." Kurt said as he ran after his wife, tears in his eyes.  
  
Hank sat at his desk, pondering. "Shiar technology?' Hank thought, replaying Kitty's words in his mind.  
He began searching through his database in his computer. Going through the Shiar information in his computer,  
he found a solution to the young couple's dilema.  
  
"Oh, there's no way! It's Ludicrous!! It's Outrageous!! Two things I have become accustomed to as an X-man!"  
Hank beamed. "And, as the old cliche goes, it's just crazy enough to work!!" Hank smiled. "McCoy, my friend, you're  
a genius, if I do say so myself. I'll do some more research, and talk this over with them in the morning. How exciting!'  
Hank squealed as he ran through his computer.  



	3. hope

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL"S!! NOT MINE!! NO SUE ME!!  
  
Chapter 3 of Junior X  
A Beacon of hope  
  
  
Sunlight beamed brightly into the room of Kurt and Kitty Wagner the next morning. It cruely hit Kurt dead in his eyes, forcing him to wake up to reality and face the fact that  
his life was worthless. Not that he really had to wake up, though. After all, sleep and peace of mind were strangers to him nowadays. He rolled over and noticed Kitty's side of the bed empty. "Up and at em, elf." Kurt muttered to himself. Another day with no rest, and no point in going on or living.  
  
He made his way into the Kitchen, finding Kitty sitting at the table alone. Her brown eyes bloodshot with tears of anguish and loss. She chewed absent-mindedly on a piece of toast.  
Seeing her in such pain made Kurt's own heartbreak even more unbearable. He silently poured a cup of coffee and sat next to Kitty, who didn't seem to notice him.  
  
"My beautiful Katzchen," he said and brushed her hair out of her tired face. " We..."  
  
He was cut short. Interrupted by one Dr. Hank McCoy. The Beast came bursting suddenly in the kitchen, as excited as a child with a new toy.  
  
"Ah, if it isn't my favorite cute couple!" Hank crowed, his granny-rimmed glasses nearly falling off the end of his nose. "Just the people I want to see!!! I have done it!! Yes, I am a genius!!" He threw the papers he had in his hand in the air in celebration.  
  
Kurt was more than a little annoyed at this, as he was at so many things now. "Hank, we do not want to hear about....."  
  
"Oh, but you do, my friends, you do!! I have the solution to your baby dilema!:" Hank said excitedly.  
  
Kurt and Kitty now had Hank's full attention. "Oh, Hank!! I knew you could do it!!"  
Kitty squealed and wrapped her arms around him in a thankful, relieved hug.  
  
"Indeed. Actually, I have you to thank, Kitty." Hank explained. "You see, you were the one who suggested that I have a look see into Shiar technology. That's just what I did."  
  
"And?" Kurt said in excitement.  
  
"Perhaps the two of you should follow me." Hank motioned for them. "This will require much explaination. After all, if you agree to this, this child of yours will not come into the   
world by normal circumstances."  
  
The Wagners followed Hank, looking at each other with new hope and curiousity.  
Just what card did Dr. McCoy have up his blue, furry sleeve.  
  
******************************************  
  
The Wagners sat in the same chairs they had sat in the previous day. Yesterday, when their hopes of having a family again were shattered. Now, they came to this same Medlab with hope in their hearts.  
  
Kurt was quite suprised when the Professor hovered in the medroom . "Hello, my children. Hank tells me that we need to have a small conference. Something about your attempts to start a family. Tell me Hank," The Professsor looked up at the muscular   
blue doctor, "What business should this be of mine?'  
  
Hank smiled widely. "Everything will play itself out as I explain." Hank said and placed an alien object on top of the lab table.  
  
Everyone's eyes cast down on the object. It was approximatley the size of a softball, and just as round. It was obviously Shiar in design, the Professor could plainly see that. However, it also had a somewhat phalanx look to it. A techno-organic type membrane  
which also consisted of some technological workings.  
  
"What is that?" Kurt asked.  
  
"This, my friend," Hank proceeded, "Is what the Shiar affectionatly know as an incubation orb. It has helped many Shiar couples who could not have children make their dreams possible."  
  
"How does this work?" Kitty was intrigued.  
  
"I Know exactly." The Professor chimed in. As a man who was all to familiar with Shiar culture, and whose own soulmate was a Shiar emperess, he had experience with this type of thing before. Would they agree to such a procedure? While this situation was common and accepted amongst the Shiar, would it be accepted to Kurt and Kitty, as well as the others? After all, this was unheard of in earth culture, and accepted as impossible.  
  
Impossible. A word unknown to the X-men. The Professor smiled.   
  
"Simple, actually." Hank picked up the small device, and further explained. " We extract an egg from you, and fertilize it with Kurt's sperm. The fertilized egg is then injected inside the orb. The orb is in turn, surgically implanted into a host." Hank held up a small, pinlike device, also Shiar in origin. "This detection device will then read the frequencies given off by the orb during the host's so -called pregnancy. In other words," Hand  
finished, "The orb is an artificial womb. It acts in the same way. It's techno-organic structure allows the host to attach blood vessels to its walls, where the fetus will recieve nourishment from the host, just as it would in a mother's uterus. Ingenius." Hank held the device up to light in fascination.  
  
"OH HANK!! THIS IS WONDERFUL!!" Kitty squealed with delight. " I can carry my own child!!" She wrapped her arms around Kurt, who was dissolved in tears of joy.  
  
Hank looked at the two. " Uh, Kitty." Hank interjected. " You see, you cannot carry the orb. It was not designed to be carried by the female. It was specifically designed to be implanted in men." Hank finished, looking at everyone in the lab for their reaction.   
  
"What?" Kitty asked.  
  
"That's what I said. This would give Kurt the opportunity to carry your child. There would be no outsiders involved, as you feared with surrogate parenting. Only the child's parents are involved in its creation. Even though it is the father playing the role of gestation instead of the mother." Hank stated.  
  
Kurt stroked his stubbled chin in thought. " Let me get this straight, mein frieund," Kurt asked, going over this possibility in his mind. "You mean to tell me that, in other words, I would be, well..."  
  
"Pregnant, Kurt." The Professor interrupted. "I know how shocking and out of this world it may sound, but remember, it may be unheard of on earth, but I assure you it is quite common amongst the Shiar."  
The Professor explained.  
  
Kurt looked around him. This was absolutely outrageous!! He, a 27 year old man, a male, the dominant sex, or what most men thought, would be pregnant.  
How would the others react?  
  
Kitty looked at her husband. " Kurt," she told him lovingly. "We have been hoping for a child for so long. So long for another chance at happiness. But," she brushed his cheek lightly. "This is your decision, and I will stand by it all the way."  
  
Kurt looked lovingly into his wife's dark, soulful eyes. His soulmate. His better half. His longtime friend. He looked around to the Professor and back up to Hank.  
  
"Whatever your decision, Kurt," the professor said, "I am sure you will have all of the x-mens' support. For one, you certainly have mine, and of course, Hank's."   
  
Hank was so intrigued by the whole concept (no pun intended). The scientific ramifications of this procedure could be quite mind-boggling. This could end so many couple's suffering for the longing of a child. For one, Hank secretely hoped Kurt would agree. Hank was certian this would work. The prospects of the scientific study of a fetus growing inside a man's body whet his appetite in the search of knowledge. But Hank knew, as a doctor, he could not influence Kurt's decision.  
  
Kurt span back around to his wife, his heart swelling with hope and happiness. He would make sure he and his wife's dream came true. He would put right what had once went wrong. This time, he would not let this child down. Kurt stood to his feet and looked around the medlab once more.  
  
"For the longest time," Kurt began, " I have hoped and prayed for a baby. A precious little one to heal the scars that had been ripped in mine and my wife's souls. Today, God has answered my prayers, in the form of Hank McCoy. I certainly didn't expect my child to be brought into the world this way. This indeed prooves that God works in mysterious ways. As X-men, we all know too well that the abnormal and outrageous are the norms for us. We have spanned galaxies, hopped dimensions, encountered alien beings with nigh  
omnipotent power. Kitty even has a pet dragon." Kurt grinned, referring to Lockheed.  
The idea of a man being pregnant is, when one thinks of it, the most normal, outrageous event that has happened to us. I am more than willing to go through the procedure, Dr. McCoy." Kurt nodded to him. For the first time in a year, hope shimmered in his golden eyes.  
  
"Wonderful, Kurt!!" Hank was nearly drunk with delight at Kurt's decision. Kitty objected. "Kurt, what about the risks? I mean, how will this affect your health?" Kitty looked at Kurt with worry in her eyes.  
  
"Yes, we do need to discuss the possible risk factors, as well as what you should expect."  
Hank agreed.  
  
"Then let's discuss them now." Kurt said. He was truly excited about this.  
  
"The orb was designed for implantation in Shiar men." Hank stroked his furry chin. "You see, while the anatomy of the Shiar and that of earthlings are similar, they are not exact.  
These differences may actually be of benefit, or they may cause risks or complications.  
Remember, the male of any species of mammal was not designed to carry a growing fetus.   
You will have to be closely monitored. Your overall healthy and strong, and that is highly in your favor." Hank sat down at the desk beside the lab table, and sat his glasses down on the desk top. "Please have a seat, Kurt. There is much to explain to you. I want you to go into this well-educated on what you are getting yourself into."  
  
Kurt pulled the chair out on the other side of the desk, and gave Hank his attention. "Please fill me in, mein freund." Kurt smiled, all blue pointed ears.  
  
"Well, now that you know some of the risks, you should know some of the benefits as compared to a woman going through the same thing." Hank explained. " You are a man, and as such, you will not have the flucuating female hormones that cause mood swings and morning sickness." Hank smiled  
  
Kurt was confused. He had medical training himself. While he was nowhere on the same high knowledge of medicine as McCoy, he did know a few basic things about anatomy.  
"I am well aware my body produces no estrogen. But a fetus needs estrogen to grow.  
How will that be taken care of? Do I have to take injections? Will I grow breasts and my voice become high pitched?" Kurt was laughing now. This was really new territory.  
  
"That's what makes this orb so wonderful." Hank said as he picked the device up once more. "You see, the inside of the orb has a synthesizer that produces artificial estrogen.   
Just as good as natural, and serves the same purpose. Don't worry about any female characteristics popping up on you, though." Hank laughed, "The hormone stays in side the walls of the orb and gives the child what it will need to grow properly. It is never released in your bloodstream, so your own body is never affected by it." Hank sat the orb back down  
  
"Should I know anything else?" Kurt asked, intrigued.  
  
"Yes, there is. This is probably the most unpleasant part." Hank looked into Kurt's eyes.  
"The orb, as perfect as it may seem, is not without its faults. No matter how good a technology is, it cannot change the fact that nature did not design the male to carry a child.  
You were not born with a birth canal, and the orb has no opening. It is merely a housing for a growing fetus. At the end of your nine months, the child is removed surgically."  
  
"I figured as much." Kurt nodded  
  
"That's not all. You see, as the orb expands with the child, the techno-organic membrane becomes almost diamond-hard. Nothing can penetrate it. Scapels, nothing."  
  
"Well," Kurt asked, "How is the child removed?"  
  
"Here is the painful part. At the end of gestation, the orb will begin to contract, or prime itself to be cut open. The priming of the orb can take days. The orb will contract so that the techno-organic walls will become soft enough to be sliced with the scapel."  
  
"Why will this be painful?" Kurt swallowed nervously.  
  
"Well, you see, as I said, your body will grow blood vessels and nerve endings around the orb in order to nourish the child inside you. You will feel every last contraction. In other words, you will be in a form of labor." Hank explained. "And, as far as the database shows, these are very strong spasms. You remember how much pain Kitty was in giving birth to Jacob?" Hank asked.  
  
"How could I forget? She threatened to kill me if I ever touched her again!" Kurt laughed, and Kitty scoulded at him.  
  
"Well, your pain is going to be twice that, and for a longer duration." Hank explained.  
  
"How long?' Kitty asked , worry in her eyes.  
  
"It could be two days, or as long as a week. You must understand, I am new to this as well. There is still some details I may be unaware of. We have nothing to compare this to other than the fact that it is quite common among the Shiar, which is not really a fair comparison. We have to play this thing by ear." Hank said matter of factly.  
  
Kitty called Kurt to the side. "I'm not sure about this. There's too many risks, elf. And the pain? Worse than a woman's normal labor? Oh Kurt, I did'nt think it to be possible."  
  
Kurt's face stiffened in stubborness. "And the pain we must endure every day of the loss of our child? Of perhaps never having another? Kitty, I'm willing to risk everything. I'm willing to take any chance to make us a family again." Kurt looked her dead in the eyes.   
He was determined. There was no talking him out of it. "You said you would support my decision." Kurt turned away.  
  
"Kurt, I have indeed lost a child. I don't want to loose my husband, too." Kitty said.  
  
"You're not going to loose me, liebling. We germans are a hardy race." Kurt grinned.  
  
"Promise me you will let me take care of you? I'm going to be there every step of the way. When you do go into this sort of labor you're suppose to have, promise me that you'll let me be there, soothing you, taking care of you like you alway have for me?"  
Kitty was worried. Kurt knew she loved him.   
  
"How soon can you do this, Hank?" Kurt asked  
  
"I can start tommorrow morning. I will take Kitty's egg and your sperm. If all goes well as it should, you could be in the family way by tommorrow evening." Hank smiled. This was indeed going to be one hell of a ride for all three of them.  
  
"I suppose I do not need to inform you of what else you can expect?" Hank said, arising from his chair.  
  
"Such as?" Kurt asked, a light-hearted tone in his voice.  
  
  
"Just the basic changes you can expect in your body. You know the most obvious things.  
You can kiss your flat, washboard stomach goodbye in a couple of months. Your back will probably ache due to carrying around the extra weight of the child in your abdomen.  
Your graceful, athletic abilities will be severely impaired in a couple of months due to the fact that your midsection will be as big as a house..." Hank trailed off, looking at Kurt's   
reaction to the facts spilled before him. Kurt seemed eager as ever to have this procedure done.  
  
Kurt laughed. "There's nothing you can tell me that will keep me from doing this. I am going to see to it that I and my wife's child is brought into this world healthy and happy."  
Kurt nodded toward Hank in reassurance.  
  
"It's done then." Hank clapped his hands together in satisfaction. "Both of you, meet me here at 8:00 a.m. tommorrow morning. I would like you to stay over, Kurt, so that I can perform necessary bloodwork."   
  
"Of course, mein docktor." Kurt smiled and hopped up on top of the med lab table to offer Hank his arm. "You should go and rest, Kitty." Kurt looked at her with love and affection in his eyes. "We both have a long day tommorrow."  
  
"Longer for you than me, my darling." Kitty smiled as she kissed him on the cheek. She then walked out the medroom door, leaving Hank to drawing Kurt's blood.  
  
A million and one thoughts were dancing through Kitty's mind. Imagine, in the next nine months, she would be expecting a child. Her's and Kurt's baby. Only her body would not be going through the changes, Kurt's would. She played with the thought for a moment.  
She would be watching on as her husband's stomach began to expand. She would watch the child grow inside him and when his time came, she would be the one to wipe the sweat from his brow as he would go through the pains the orb would give him as he would struggle to bring their child in this world.   
  
"This couldn't be right. A man, my husband, bearing my child. Talk about reverse roles."  
Kitty shuttered. She wanted another child so badly, but how was she going to be able to mentally handle the fact that Kurt was carrying their child?  
  
She could. In fact, it was going to be a wonderful time for both of them. She knew how Kurt must have felt to watch Jacob grow inside her, and her heart raced with love for her  
blue elf. "It's going to be beautiful." Kitty walked down the hall, still in a dream state.  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. In The Family way

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL'S!! NOT MINE!! DIG?  
  
Chapter 4  
In the Family Way  
  
Kurt and Kitty went to the Medlab the next morning at their appointed time at 8:00 a.m. The two of them could hardly sleep, despite Hank's instructions that Kurt have total rest and relaxation the night before.  
By 9:30 a.m., the orb was ready for implantation. Kurt lay on the pre-op table, where his fur was shaved just above his navel. It was obvious that Kurt was nervous, as indeed he had every right to be.  
  
"Have you thought about this carefully, Kurt?" Hank asked the young man.  
"Very." was Kurt's only reply.  
  
"You've thought everything over. All the factors involved in this. You're still up for it?" Hank asked one final time.  
  
Kurt was still as determined as ever. "Ja. As ready as I'll ever be." Kurt said. Kitty kissed him on the forehead.  
  
"Very well, then. Let's do this thing!" Hank reminded Kurt of some sort of mad scientist. But who could really blame him?  
If this worked, Hank could change the medical community as it stood today.  
  
****************************  
  
"It's been two hours!! How long does this take? What if there were problems? Oh, God, please watch over my elf."  
Kitty closed her eyes as she said a silent prayer in the waiting room.  
  
Just as she muttered the final words, Hank came into the waiting room, in green scrubs and surgical mask. Kitty was  
relieved. Now she could finally see if Kurt was o.k.  
  
Hank walked toward Kitty and pulled down his mask, flashing the young woman a smile. "The surgery itself went   
very well. I used local anestetic. Kurt flinched not once." Hank took off his surgeons cap.  
  
"Well?" Kitty asked. "Did it work?"  
  
"We won't know that for another hour." Hank explained. " It takes about that long for the orb to successfully attach  
inside him. We'll know soon enough." Hank held up a small, pinlike device for Kitty to see. It was also Shiar in origin,  
she noticed. "And what does this gizmo do?" She asked, eyeing the thing leeridly.  
  
"This gizmo, my dear," Hank held it to let it catch the light. "Is the orb tracer. You see, the orb sends certain frequencies.  
It has built in tracing chips to allow Shiar doctors to monitor its progress. In the next hour, I'll place this against your husband's  
stomach. If the light goes off, well," Hank beemed. "Kurt's a daddy to be."  
  
"Is Kurt doing well?" She asked.  
  
" Why don't you go see for yourself?" Hank grinned yet again and motioned Kitty to the post-op unit.  
  
  
Kitty swung open the door to see her darling Kurt. There he lay, somewhat groggy but a smile splitting his handsome,  
blue face. His hair pulled back in a pony tail. He said lazily, "Guten Tag, my Katzchen."  
  
Kitty smiled with relief and threw her arms around her husband's neck, who in turn eagerly returned the hug.  
  
"How is my elf feeling?" Kitty whispered, rubbing Kurt's back.  
  
"I actually feel wonderful. This verdamnt incision is a little sore, though." Kurt rubbed his stomach. It was a small  
incision above his navel, probably no more than two inches in length.  
  
Hank tapped Kurt's arm for another vial of blood, and placed the vial in the lab tray. " They both look so anxious."  
Hank noticed. "They want to know if the procedure worked, if they'll be having the baby of their dreams. We'll all   
know soon enough." Hank thought as he set the tray in the top rack of the medical refrigerator.  
  
"Some discomfort is associated with any surgery." Hank said, flipping through Kurt's chart.  
  
"Hank. You think it worked?" Kurt asked with eager eyes.  
  
"In a little while, we should know. I'll use the detection device I showed Kitty. " Hank now allowed Kurt to see what he  
was talking about. "See, we hold this to your stomach. If this light goes out, well," Hank's grin broadened. "You'll be  
in the family way."  
  
"I certainly hope so." Kurt said worridly. He leaned back on the bed, and patted his stomach lightly. Kitty kissed him  
on his jaw. "You really do need to get some rest." She cooed to him.  
  
"Ja, I am tired." Kurt yawned and drifted off, snoring lightly.  
  
As Kurt slept, Kitty took her hand and lovingly rubbed Kurt's stomach. "Are you in there, little one? Please be,  
you're our only hope for a family. We already love you so much." She stroked Kurt's hair and let it down out of   
the ponytail. She ran her finger along the outline of his face. "God truly blessed me when He gave you to me, Kurt  
Wagner. My beautiful, blue elf. Kitty kissed his lips as he slept. And she sat there, just watching her husband sleep.  
  
  
Kurt was awakened by one excited Hank McCoy. Kurt slightly protested at having been jerked awake so.  
"What is it, Hank?" Kurt asked, stretching.  
  
"It's time Kurt." Kitty smiled widely. "Time to see if our dreams are going to come true!! Oh, Kurt!" Kitty held Kurt's hand.  
  
Hank brought out the probe he had shown Kurt and Kitty earlier. "I'm so nervous." Hank said. He knew what he felt  
was nothing compared to the excitement and anticipation Kurt and Kitty felt.  
  
Hank switched the device on, taking a deep breath. "Remember Kurt. Don't be dissappointed if this didn't work.  
There are other routes. We found this one, and I'll keep trying." Hank placed the probe on Kurt's abdomen.  
  
Kurt took a deep breath himself. As the probe was placed on his stomach, he said a silent prayer for this to work.  
After what seemed like eternity, the probe's light went dead.  
  
Just the result they had wanted.  
  
"Mein Gott." Kurt whispered to himself in astonishment. His expression of shock melted into utter joy.  
"I'm, I'm"  
  
"Congradulations, Daddy." Hank said , a wide grin of satisfaction and happiness spreading on his face.  
  
"OH KURT!! IT WORKED!! " Kitty squealed as she wrapped Kurt's neck in a loving embrace, her own tears of  
joy mingling with his. Kitty's eyes met Kurt's as she placed her had gingerly and lovingly on Kurt's stomach.  
  
"Hi there!! I'm your mommy!!" Kitty giggled estatically as she talked to Kurt's stomach.  
  
"I don't believe it." Kurt said in astonished happiness. "I'm a man. Yes. Yes I am. But I'm, well, pregnant!"Kurt played  
this fact over and over in his mind. It was all so hard to comprehend. Then the thoughts of a beautiful baby came to mind.  
Of first steps and first words. "I bet it's first word will be daddy!" Kurt beamed with pride at this thought and began to  
run both blue hands over his stomach lovingly. "Hello, little one!"Kurt said to his stomach, hands still holding it lovingly.  
"I knpw this isn't the most normal of circumstances to bring you into this world. I know that your mommy is suppose to  
be carrying you. But I don't mind one bit to do this for you. You know why?" Kurt grabbed Kitty's hand and placed it  
back on his stomach. "Because we love you so much. Your mommy and I need you so badly." He looked back up  
at Kitty. "We are going to be so happy!" Kurt sobbed with happiness and grabbed Kitty in a big bear hug.  
  
" I hate to interrupt your little celebration," Hank said seriously, " But we need to discuss some things."  
  
"Such as ?" Kurt asked, concerned.  
  
"Well, as in any pregnancy, you need to keep regular checkups. You must rest and take it easy. You must eat a balanced  
diet. You can do moderate excercise, nothing rigorous." Hank said. " That should help you keep your muscles toned and  
help with carrying the child."  
  
"And when do we tell the others?" Kitty beamed. She wanted so badly to share her happiness with the others, but she  
knew this was going to be touchy.  
  
"I and the Professor discussed this last night. We will tell the others in due time. Don't worry, we'll arrange that for you."  
Hank stated.  
  
"Danke, Hank." Kurt looked lovingly at his stomach. "For everything."  
  
"You also must follow doctor's orders." Hank smiled. "I suggest you and Kitty take a week's vacation. Give your body  
time to heal from this surgery and get the rest any expectant parent needs." Hank himself now was rubbing Kurt's stomach.  
This was indeed his greatest work.  
  
"May I suggest a cabin at Breakstone Lake?" Hank beamed. "Far enough away to get away from pressures at the mansion,  
yet close enough for me to give you your checkups at the cabin and in case of any complications or emergencies that  
may arise. When you return, we'll already have arrangements made so that you can tell the others your news."  
Hank had it all layed out for them.  
  
"Wunderbar!!" Kurt said. "So, when can we go?'  
  
You could leave right now if you like. The surgery was rather minor,and with shiar technology at my disposal, this was  
a breeze. I'd say you have recovered sufficiently."  
  
Kurt smiled and went to the small office adjacent to the medlab to change back into his clothes. He slid back into  
his Pink Floyd T-shirt and jeans. Kurt stopped for a moment as he zipped his jeans.  
  
"These will be totally useless to me in a couple of months." Kurt grinned to himself sheepishly. Walking back out to the  
Medroom to meet Kitty, he found Hank had already made arrangements to whisk the couple to the cabin.  
  
As Kurt and Kitty walked out the med room entrance, Hank called Kurt back. " I forgot to tell you the most important part."  
Hank called back.  
  
"What could it possibly be?" Kurt smiled.  
  
"Enjoy your pregnancy Kurt. No matter which of you are carrying this child, it is a magical and wonderful time for the   
both of you."  
  
"Indeed." Kurt grinned back.  
  
"And if you feel any pain or unbearable discomfort, call me on your cell phone and..."  
  
"And you'll be at the cabin in two shakes of a lamb's tail. Yes, father." Kurt nodded.   
  
As the young blue mutant followed behind his wife out the medroom, Hank thought to himself.  
  
"Yes, Hank, you are a genius." He thought to himself in satisfaction.  
  
It was going to be a long nine months.  
  
  



	5. Dilemas, Dilemas.

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL'S!! NOT MINE!! SUE ME NOT!!!!!  
  
Chapter 5 of Junior X  
Dilemas, Dilemas.  
  
  
The past week had been an enjoyable and relaxing week for the Wagners, indeed. They were away from everyone and everything, and had time to get reaquainted with each other and become use to this new  
idea. They splashed around in Breakstone Lake, having water fights and the like, and just generally learning to enjoy life again. After all, they had so much to look forward to now.  
  
The week had passed quickly for the young couple. They had bothed looked forward to being with their friends again and dreaded it all at the same time. No matter how much they went over this, it didn't seem  
to make them feel more at ease about the situation.  
  
So here he was, laying flat on his back in bed in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. "We're suppose to go home today." Kurt thought to himself. He looked at the small alarm clock on the table beside him and flicked on the lamp, hoping not to wake Kitty. He couldn't help but look down at her. She was fast asleep, her beautiful head resting on his chest with one arm draped across his stomach. "Four oclock a.m." Kurt thought to himself. They had both went to bed at 9:00 p.m., hoping to rise in enough time to get back to the mansion by 8:30 the next morning. Kurt had slept well these past couple of nights. In fact, it was the best rest he had had in over a year. The peace of mind and total bliss of bringing another child in this world had totally changed Kurt's outlook on life for the better. But tonight, his mind refused to shut down and sleep. He had been awake since he hit the sheets. His brain kept playing out all the possibilities. "What will they think?" Kurt kept asking himself. Kurt smiled down at his wife. He wondered, would she want to start back toward the mansion this early? Kurt kissed her gently on the forhead and brushed her long hair out of her face. Her eyes fluttered open, and she jerked awake suddenly.  
  
"Oh, Kurt, honey is everything o.k.?" She questioned him frantically. She assumed something was wrong with him to be waking her so early. "Areyouhurtinganywhereohmysweetheartmylovewhatswrong!?" Kitty blurted almost incoherently as she stroked Kurt's hair. "IhavetocallMcCoyOHGOD!!" Kitty panicked as she reached for the cell phone on the side of her bed.  
  
Kurt looked at her in confusion, and gingerly grabbed her wrists. He pryed the cell phone from her small fingers and smiled, kissing her on her cheek. "Oh, baby, I'm fine!!" Kurt smiled and grabbed her in a tight embrace on the bed. "I just wanted to see if you were ready to go home!" He snuggled his face in her hair, his own long dark hair falling into Kitty's mouth. She grinned and spat it out, wrapping her arms around his muscular chest. "Oh, Kurt, I'm sorry!! I just thought something was wrong and I...." Kitty was interrupted by Kurt's lips meeting hers.  
  
"I assure you, I and junior are doing wonderfully." Kurt grinned and patted his stomach. "Remember how well Hank said I was doing when he was up at the cabin yesterday?"  
  
"Yes, yes I do and with great relief." Kitty grinned. "Honey, are you sure you want to go home now? I mean, it is early, and I want you to get some rest."  
  
"I promise, I will rest as soon as I get back to the mansion." Kurt smiled at his wife. "I just want to get home, so we can prepare for the big meeting." He arched his black eyebrows at her and she nodded in agreement.  
  
"O.k. If you promised to get a sound sleep when we get there." She brushed her fingertip along his lips.  
  
"I Promise." He said, gingerly kissing the finger in return.  
  
******************************************  
  
At 5:00 a.m., Kurt and Kitty had returned to the mansion. They tiptoed in the dark building. Most of its occupants were fast asleep and neither wanted to wake anyone up.   
  
Of course, most did not mean all. The Professor had sensed their return. He had been up since three anyway. Even the world's greatest mind suffered from occasional insomnia, and the return of two of his  
"Children" back home was all of the more reason to be awake. Especially considering what one of his children was going through.  
  
"I could feel that you had returned." the Professor said as he hovered in the living room. "Tell me, Kurt, how was your rest?"  
  
Kurt flashed his fangs in a wide grin at the Professor. He was looking more and more like the old Kurt. He had gained some of his weight back, and  
the bags under his eyes were completely gone. His youthful vigor was back, as well as his roguish charm.  
  
"Wunderbar!" Kurt exclaimed happily, giving his mentor a hello hug.  
  
"I take that you are very well, then, as Hank has informed me. You did follow his advice? " The Professor questioned.  
  
"Ja, Ja." Kurt reassured. "Every last word. My beautiful wife made sure of that. Nothing strenuous. Just moderate, light exercise,and no  
gymnastics or teleporting. I've been resting well, and eating like a horse." Kurt laughed. He sounded so full of life, so ecstatic. It made Kitty's  
and the Professor's hearts light to hear him carry on so well.  
  
"Very good." The Professor smiled satisfactorily. "Did Hank tell you of the team meeting I have planned in the Warroom this evening?"  
  
"Ja, that he did." Kurt smiled nervously.   
  
"You have prepared for this, I assume?"  
  
"Ja."  
  
"And you have weighed all the possible reactions?"  
  
Kurt ran his hand through his hair and looked the professor in the eye. He smiled. "Ja." was Kurt's simple reply.  
  
"Wonderful. Please do not be too concerned, Kurt. These are your friends, your family. I'm sure you will leave with full  
support. Until then," he looked back at Kurt and then toward Kitty, " You both need plenty of rest. You will have a long  
day ahead of you." The Professor hovered back upstairs. "Goodnight, children." The Professor said before dissappearing  
down the upstairs hall.  
  
Kurt looked down at his wife, who had her arms wrapped around him in a loving embrace. He yawned ."It has been a long  
trip." He ran his hands through Kitty's chestnut hair.  
  
"Yes, it has." She smiled and then asked. "Are you still nervous about tonight?"  
  
Kurt stroked his chin in thought. "I would be lying if I said I weren't." Kurt explained. "After all, this is absolutely unheard of.  
Entirely outrageous." He smiled. " I just don't think anyone on earth is ready to accept a pregnant man. " Kurt walked  
to the bay window, his back to Kitty and just stared intently at the garden in the front courtyard, deep in thought.  
  
Kitty looked at her husband, standing in the full moonlight shining through the window. It casted a glow on his blue fur  
and long black-violet hair. His rippling, strong arms crossed across his chest as he stared out the window, his mind wandering.  
Dressed in nothing more than a simple white tank top and baggy, faded jeans, she was in practical awe at how beautiful he was.  
"And to think," she thought, "When I first saw him, he scared the crap out of me. If only I could take it back somehow."  
Her eyes drifted down to his taught, flat stomach. "My child, our child, is actually in there , growing." She thought as  
her heart slammed in her chest with the intense rush of love she felt for them both. Kurt's glowing, golden eyes, the eyes  
that showed her his compassionate, loving soul, span back around to Kitty. He walked over and embraced her.  
  
"You know something, though?" Kurt whispered in her ear. "These are our friends, our family just as the Professor had said.  
"They have always been there for us, and supported us. They will be here now, I'm sure of it." Kurt said, trying more to convince  
himself than Kitty.  
  
Kitty looked up at her husband and grabbed his chin, making him look her in the eye. She had always loved him. As a friend at first,  
a teammate, a lover, a husband. "We're talking about people who have went on intergalactic adventures of epic proportions. Encountered god-  
like creatures, battled the beyonder, even some who have had their bodies altered or switched.." She snuggled her head in his chest  
as he wrapped hids strong arms around her. "If there is one thing we have learned about being x-men, it is to expect the unexpected.  
This pregnancy is going to catch them off guard, of course, but they will adapt, as always." Kitty said reassuredly.  
  
"I'm sure you are right, my love." Kurt smiled.  
  
"Of course, I'm right! Remember, I'm the brains of the operation, remember?" She giggled, and Kurt chuckled hardedly.  
"The important thing is that we're happy, we love each other, and we will finally have a family again." Kitty kissed Kurt passionatly.  
She then looked down lovingly at his abdomen and began to rub it soothingly. Kurt had always liked having his stomach rubbed.  
"Just like a loving puppy." Kitty used to joke to him about it, but she had really made it a ritual this past week, since he was now  
carrying their child.  
  
"Let's get to bed , tiger." Kitty purred. "After all, tour resting for two, now."   
  
Kurt nodded whole heartedly in agreement. He looked back out the window. The sun was beginning to rise.  
The two adjorned to bed. This was indeed going to be a long day.  
  
  
  
  



	6. Preparing

Disclaimer: MARVEL'S PEOPLE!! NOT MINE!! O.K.?  
  
  
Chapter 6 of junior x  
  
Of meetings and such  
  
  
Dinner at the X-mansion was always special. It was the one time in the days of the lives of the X-men that they could sit down and relate and act as a normal household. Everyone had their role. Kitty and Betsy usually helped Jean with the preparation of the meal. Rogue and Remy would set the table, while Logan and Scott usually argued about who was on dishwashing and cleanup duty. In the end, Kurt would normally volunteer to do this, and did so by himself, as was his choice these days.   
  
  
At one time, Kurt was the one who kept the jokes rolling, who brought life to the table. However, since the death of his son a year ago, he had transformed from the devil-may-care swashbuckler to the brooding, dark-emotioned young man he was today. He rarely smiled, and never laughed. It pained the others to see him this way, but the wall of turmoil the german x-man had built around himself was impenetratable.  
Even the Professor, the most powerful mind on earth, could not get through to him. He could only resort to the hope that, with the passage of time,  
Kurt's grief would pass and the wounds would begin to heal. Kitty had indeed grieved herself, but was slowly beginning to adjust. Kurt, however,  
chose to receed within himself.  
  
However, with Kurt now "pregnant", he seemed to finally be tearing the wall of pain down. "Kurt is pregnant." The Professor had went over this in  
his mind over and over again. However, it hadn't become so hard to become accustomed to the idea as he first thought. He was slowly accepting the  
fact that there would be a "pregnant" man running around the mansion for the next nine months.  
  
It was now 6:00 p.m. The table had been set. Betsy placed the food on the table, while Rogue and Remy discussed the round of basketball they had   
just finished.   
  
"Ah swear, if ya wasn't such a cheat." the southern belle yelled at the cajun, taking the sweat band out of her hair, "Ah would have had that game  
sacked!"  
  
"Is that so, petite?" asked Remy with a sly smile. "You don't think it had any'ting to do wit' you not bein' able to play, non?"  
  
Betsy rolled her eyes. "Honestly," the purple-haired assassin said with the tone of a scolding mother. "There are children who fuss less."  
  
Jean looked to Scott, who was busying himself in the process of making a pot of coffee. "Scott," Jean whispered . "You do know what tommorrow is,don't you?"  
  
Scott's face drained itself of all color and became somber. He nearly scooped the coffee grounds onto the countertop instead of the filter basket.  
Yes, he knew all too well what tommorrow was. "I would rather forget." Scott choked. Tommorrow would mark the one year anniversary of Jacob's and  
Ororo's death.  
  
"Do you suppose that's why Kurt and Kitty took off this past week? To get away from the memories?" Jean's green eyes welled with tears. "Kitty eternally grieves,  
and Kurt is teatering on the verge of a nervous breakdown anyway." As a telepath, Jean had not only to deal with her own grief, but she felt the other's pain as well,  
especially Kurt's.  
  
"I would suppose so. As a father who lost a child, I know all too well what Kurt is going through." Scott, of course, was referring to Nathan.  
"I'm not so sure that is a fair comparison, though. After all, I did eventually get Nathan back. Jacob is gone for good."  
  
"Well, when I asked the Professor why Kurt and Kitty left without telling any of us, he just said they had went on a vacation, for a week's worth of  
relaxation." Jean said. "But, what if they decided not to come back?"  
  
Before Scott had the chance to answer the question, the Professor came hovering in the kitchen, whith a somewhat tanned and happier Kitty Pryde-Wagner  
walking in behind him.  
  
"Oh, Kitty!" Where were you? Are you both O.K.?" Jean rambled on, relieved to see her friend but wanting so many questions answered. The beautiful  
redhead wrapped her arms around the smaller girl in a welcome-home hug.  
  
"Oh, Jean! Didn't the Professor tell you? We just went away for a week to spend some time together. Kurt really needed the rest." Kitty giggled. She  
was so happy, much to the delight of the others. "And soon, they'll know why I'm happy!" Kitty thought to herself.  
  
The Professor looked up at the rest of the X-men. "I can see you are all happy about having Kurt and Kitty back home from their vacation. I assure you, the  
team meeting Hank and I have arranged after dinner tonight will answer all of your questions." The Professor smiled. "I can tell you all this much, celebration  
will definitly be in order."  
  
"So, where be de elf?" Remy asked, "Remy not see him in a week. Missed him." The cajun said as he scratched at a chip in one of the plates. "No one can give  
me a run for mah money in a poker game like ol' Wagner." Remy sat the plate down in front of him and took his place at the table.  
  
"My precious elf is still asleep. He was so excited about coming home last night. When we got home at 5:00 this morning, he went straight to bed. He just   
couldn't sleep." Kitty's face melted into a loving expression. "After all, Kurt deserves all the rest he can get." she said, love glistening in her brown eyes.  
  
Just as Kitty had turned around to pour herself a cup of Scott's freshly brewed coffee, Kurt came down into the kitchen. "Guten tag, mein freunds." Kurt said and proceeded  
to stretch and yawn. He was wearing the same tank top and jeans he had on when he arrived home that morning. His long hair was slicked back into a ponytail, and a wide, ecstatic  
grin splitted his handsome, blue face. "Miss me?"  
  
"Oh, Kurt!" Jean squealed and wrapped her arms around the blue mutant. Kurt returned the hug, his tail swishing lazily.  
  
"There's mah brother!" Rogue yelled and followed suit behind Jean.  
  
After hugging Jean and Rogue, Kurt walked over to Kitty, took her in his muscular blue arms, dipped her, and gave her a long, deep passionate kiss. Everyone stood, dumbfounded.  
This was what the old Kurt did. The Kurt who existed before the lose of his son. Not the new Kurt, who sulled around the mansion in inconsolable pain.  
  
"Vas is wrong?" Kurt asked , finally turning Kitty's lips free. "Is there something wrong with a man kissing his beautiful wife?" Kurt grinned mischieviously and Kitty blushed like  
a schoolgirl.  
  
"Of course not, elf. But that must've been one hell of a vacation." Logan said, taking his seat at the table. "It's like we got the old you back."  
  
Kurt grimmaced at his old friend. If he had a father figure in his life next to the Professor, Logan certainly filled the bill. A cantankerous, ill-tempered father at times, but a   
father figure nonetheless. Kurt, for a brief second, began to imagine what Logan's reaction would be to the upcoming news, then shook the thought away.  
He smiled. "Ja, well, hopefully, the suave swashbuckler is here to stay this time." Kurt said, wrapping an arm around his wife.  
  
"This is so wonderful, Kurt! You look and seem so well! What on earth happened?" Betsy asked, her purple eyebrows arching in question as a clever smile swept across her lips.  
  
"Let's just say," Kurt grinned, "That this past week has given me something to live for, something to look forward to." Kurt explained cryptically.  
  
"And this is what this meeting with the Professor and Hank is all about?"  
Betsy asked.  
  
"Ja, that it is." Kurt said. Betsy smiled and each X-man continued with their part in putting the finishing touches on the meal. Kitty pulled Kurt to the side.  
"Sweetheart, do you think that was wise doing that?" Kitty whispered to Kurt in concern.  
  
"Doing what, leibling?" Kurt asked.  
  
"Dipping me like that? Please, don't put any stain on yourself. Remember, there's a little one to think about now." Kitty whispered in Kurt's ear lovingly.  
She looked into his soulful, golden eyes and patted his stomach tenderly.  
  
Kurt's heart ached to when he looked into her eyes. It ached with pure joy. To see the love she harbored in her heart for him and the child growning inside of him  
made his chest want to burst with intense happiness. Only a week pregnant, Kurt could see that Kitty was already attached to this child adn loved it with all her  
heart and soul, as much as if she were carrying it herself. The same love Kurt felt for the tiny life inside him. He could see the pride women took in their ability  
to bear children. Kurt rubbed his stomach lovingly and reassured Kitty. "I will do everything in my power to protect our child." Kurt kissed Kitty on her forhead.+  
  
"Soup's on!" Remy shouted as the others took their places.  
  
Logan grabbed two beers out of the fridge and sat one down beside Kurt. "Bottom's up, elf." Logan said and took a long swallow from his own bottle.  
  
Kurt loved beer. It was in his german heritage to drink it. He never turned a good brew down. Yet today, he eyed the brown glass bottle with pure hate.  
"Get that away from me, Logan." Kurt said in a half joking, half insulted tone.  
"That will be an extra one for you, Ja?" There was no way Kurt was going anywhere within five feet of a beer. It wasn't good for the baby.  
  
"Are you crazy, elf? You an' me consider this to be the milk of the gods!!" Logan was practically feeling rejected that Kurt refused the drink.  
"What's wrong with you? Did somebody out there brain wash you or somethin?"  
  
"Or something." Kurt snickered. "Look, I just want to lay off the alcohol for a while. Is there something wrong with that?" Kurt asked in  
a matter of fact tone.  
  
"Suit yerself." Logan shrugged. " Elf's gone pure loco. Re you sure you're Kurt?" Logan asked sarcastically.  
  
"In the fuzzy blue flesh." Kurt grinned. "I think I'll have a glass of milk instead."  
  
"That's a wonderful idea!" Kitty nodded. "You sit right there. I'll get it for you!" She patted Kurt on the back and went to retrieve  
his milk.   
  
"I just don't get it." Logan snorted. "Gettin' all wholesome, are ya? Next thing ya know, he'll be tradin' his Beatles and Grateful Dead  
albums fer Pat Boone or Ricky Nelson!" Logan muttered to himself, taking another drink out of the longneck bottle in front of him.  
Kurt shook his head in dismay, and grinned.  
*************  
  
Two heaping platefuls of food and four glasses of milk later, Kitty finally left Kurt alone. She did, however, try to force a piece of  
apple pie into him.  
  
"Come on, honey." She smiled, settting it in front of him, "You can make room for this, can't you?"  
  
"Nein." Kurt sighed, leaning back in the chair and unzipping his jeans so his overfull stomach could expand. "I'm about to explode, leibling."  
  
Kitty looked at Kurt, and upon seeing how gorged he actually looked, decided he had enough. "I just want to make sure my two angels are getting enough  
to eat." She said, kissing him on the jaw. " I just want to make sure you're eating enough for two."  
Kurt was grateful. She had hounded him to eat more since they had sat down to dinner.  
  
Hank, of course, had watched all of this from across the table at his usual dinner spot. He walked over to Kurt, as most of the X-men had risen to their   
feet to clear the table.   
  
"Looks like you are eating well. Very good. It is important that you do. You and the unborn child need all the nourishment you both can get." Hank  
  
"Don't worry about that, Hank. As long as I'm around, I'll see to both of their needs." Kitty smiled, and looked at Kurt.   
  
"I love you so much, Kurt. My angel." Kitty rested her head on his chest, and he snuggled her in his arms. They were, for a moment, oblivious to every-  
thing around them.  
  
"If I could have your attention, my X-men." The Professor announced. "The meeting will be in the warroom in the next 30 minutes. "  
  
Kurt and Kitty looked at each other, a mixture of happiness and nervousness in both their eyes.  
  
"Are you ready, my darling wife?" Kurt asked.  
  
"Certainly, Daddy." Kitty smiled.  



	7. Dropping the Bomb

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL'S!! NOT MINE!! NO SUE!!  
  
Chapter 7 of Junior X  
  
Dropping the Bomb.  
  
The thirty minutes the Professor had given everyone to prepare for the meeting passed all to quickly for the   
Wagners. For a whole week, they had discussed and how they would break the news, guessed on what  
each team members' reaction would be. They knew themselves, as X-men, that the abnormal and strange was  
all too normal for them. They had certainly had their share. But this? A pregnant man? Would they share in   
their happiness? Would they hate Kurt? Would they treat him differently?  
  
Kurt sat on one side of the Warroom table next to his wife. Kitty noticed Kurt nervously tugging at the bottom   
of his shirt, looking around and taking in the prescence of each X-man as he or she walked in and took their place at  
the Warroom table.  
  
"So, what's this about?" Rogue asked, "Ah didn't think the Warroom was goin' to be a place to discuss Kurt or Kitty."  
  
"It's the best place. Everyone is here, and apparently this meeting is going to take a while. We're here to discuss Kurt  
and Kitty. Hopefully, it's good news." Jean said.  
  
"What about dem?" Remy said, leaned back in his chair, feet propped up on the table, shuffling a deck of cards.  
Rogue gouged him in the arm. "Ye're tryin' ta make this sound unimportant! Grow up!" Rogue shouted and looked  
around to her brother.  
  
"Ya'll gotta forgive him," the southern belle said and cast a look at Remy that could have killed him. "Swamp rat's  
got no manners."  
  
"It is quite all right, Rogue." Kurt said , uneasy. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. Kitty grasped his  
hand tightly. "Don't worry, love. Everything's going to be O.K., you'll see." Kitty reassured him. To hear her say it,  
he could almost believe it.  
  
"I certainly hope you're right." Kurt gave a shaky smile.  
  
"I wonder where the Professor and Hank are?" Scott asked, curious. " I sure would like to get this show on the road.  
This has got me dying of curiousity."  
  
No sooner than this was said, that the Professor arrived in the Warroom, with Hank following close behind, binders and  
charts under one blue, powerful arm. He had dressed to the nines, in a Khaki colored suit and tie. Kurt was almost honored  
that Hank decided this was an important enough occasion to be formal for. As the Professor took his place at the helm  
of the table, Hank sat up his charts, and walked over to Kurt.  
  
"Are you ready, Kurt?" Hank whispered in Kurt's ear.  
  
"As ready as I'll ever be. Just do me one favor, Herr McCoy."  
  
"Name it, my friend, and it's yours." Hank nodded.  
  
"Protect me from the mob that may ensue once the news is out. It is one thing when people tryed to stake me for being  
a demon. It is quite personal when they try to stake me through the heart for being a male demon with child." Kurt whispered  
back, trying to make light of the situation, a dire attempt to relieve his tension.  
  
"Ever the joker, my friend." Hank whispered back. "It's good to have the old Kurt back." Hank patted Kurt on the shoulder and  
proceeded to take his place next to the professor.  
  
"My children, my X-men." the Professor stated. "We have been through thick and thin. Encountered all sorts of trials and tribulations. Experienced the fantastic. We have always been there for one another. We are more than friends, we are family. The Professor looked over to Kurt and Kitty. "Now, two members of our team have an important announcement to make. Your support and love are needed now more than ever. We have cause for celebration, do we not?"  
  
Kitty and Kurt looked at each other, love in their eyes and smiling widely."I believe I should start." Kitty said.  
  
Both Kitty and Kurt stood to their feet and faced the rest of the X-men. Kurt could feel each pair of eyes drilling into him. "Oh, God." Kurt thought to himself, "I'm going to pass out."  
  
"As you know," said Kitty, "Kurt and I have been attempting to have a child for the past six months. Well," Kitty trailed off, glancing her husband in the eye one last time before telling the secret they held the past week. "Our attempts have been successful. Kurt and I are expecting!" Kitty said with glee.  
  
A rush of heat flooded over Kurt. There. It was out. He stood somewhat dazed as all the other X-men started clapping and cheering.  
  
"Way ta go, big fella!" Remy said, giving Kurt a hardy pat on the back. "I knew you could do it!"  
  
"Vas?" Kurt asked in a dream-like state. It then dawned on him. They now knew Kitty and he were expecting a child. Kitty just neglected to tell them that he was the one carrying it.   
  
"Oh, Kitty!" Betsy walked up to Kitty with tears in her eyes. " How far along are you? When are you due?" Betsy placed her hand on Kitty's stomach. Kitty looked confused. "Oh,no." she thought, "They think it's me!"  
  
"Well, Betsy," Kitty stammered, "You see, I'm not pregnant."  
  
The beautiful telepath's face twisted in puzzlement. "What? But you said..."  
  
"I know what I said, but I need to clarify something. LISTEN EVERYBODY!!"  
Kitty shouted, and the room fell silent again, eyes glancing up at the couple.  
  
"Kitty isn't pregnant." Betsy told the others. Their confusion began to ignite as well. Betsy turned back toward Kitty. "If you are not pregnant, then, did you and Kurt somehow arrange to adopt?" She asked.  
  
"No, nothing like that." Kitty explained. Boy, this was hard. If she couldn't explain this without difficulty, she could imagine how Kurt felt. "We are expecting our own child."  
  
"Let me get this straight. Ye're not in the family way. How are gettin' this kid, then?  
Some magical baby fairy?" Logan belly-laughed. "Oh, I know." he continued with his joke. "It's the elf, there." Logan had tears of laughter in his eyes as he pointed toward Kurt. Kurt felt his heart drop. "He's got a bun in the oven. HAW!!"  
  
"Bingo, mein freund." Kurt's voice broke through Logan's laughter.  
  
"Oh, ye're funny, elf. Stop gaggin around. Really, what's goin' on?" Logan probbed,   
wiping tears of humor out of his eyes.  
  
Kurt cleared his throat, and looked to the others. "Attention, everyone." Kurt announced. "We are having a baby. I'm pregnant."   
  
A dead hush fell over the Warroom. The same eyes that looked at him earlier as he stood to attention earlier were wide with astonishment and disbelief at what they had just heard.  
  
Scott finally broke the silence. "What?" he asked, still in shock over the announcement.  
  
"Yes, it's true." Kurt looked at Kitty, and took her hand into his. He looked back toward the audience before him. "I am with child, pregnant,in the family way, expecting. Whatever you wish to call it, it all means the same to me. This is no joke. I am not crazy.  
I am pregnant, and the good Dr. McCoy is here to explain how it came about." Kurt calmly took his seat once again, his heart slamming in his chest. "Here we go." He thought to himself.  
  
"We heard you, Kurt. It's just, well, so, well, different. Exactly how did this come about?" Jean said, intrigued. Everyone was still in shock. Fascinated and briming over with questions, of course, but this was oddball and intense in every sense of the word.  
  
Kurt looked toward the X-men. "Kitty could not carry our child. With Dr. McCoy's knowledge of Shiar technology, we were able to have our own child, no outside surrogate involved. As I said earlier, Dr. McCoy will give you the complete rundown of details."  
Kurt explained.  
  
"So, what yer tellin'me," Logan interrupted, "That there is a baby growin' in ya? IN A GUY!! ? ARE YOU CRAZY KURT?!! WHY ARE YA DOIN' THIS?!! I don't believe it...." Logan trailed off, chewing on the end of his cigar.  
  
"You don't believe it?" Kurt was irritated now. Of all the X-men, Kurt and Logan shared one of the closest friendships. They relyed on each other as two brothers would. Yet, here was the same man, trying to deny what was going on instead of accepting it and supporting him as Kurt himself had done so many times before.  
  
"No, I don't." was all Logan had to say.  
  
"Well, mein freund," Kurt paced over to Logan. "When my stomach begins to swell and the child inside me begins to kick, and in nine months Dr. McCoy takes a healthy ten-pound infant out of me, you will believe then, Ja?" Kurt snarled. Not only was he angry, he was hurt that his friend felt this way.  
  
"I didn't mean I didn't believe ya," Logan retorted sarcastically, " I just can't believe you were ignorant enough to go through such a crazy experiment!"  
  
"Please, please gentlemen!" Hank wedged his way between the two men. "If everyone would allow me to explain this in greater detail, it would help you better understand it."  
  
Kurt and Logan both returned to their seats, both angry and upset.  
  
"How could he do it?" Logan grumbled to himself . "Damned, crazy, stupid man!"  
He continued to chew on the end of his cigar in disgust. He proped one elbow up on the table and rested his head in his hand, turning away from Kurt.  
  
"Kurt." Hank whispered to Kurt, somewhat annoyed at the german. "Need I remind you, stress is not good for you right now?"  
  
Kurt's face hardened toward McCoy. " And need I remind you that Logan started it?"  
Kurt winced at that last statement. He sounded like a child trying to shift blame.  
  
Hank nodded. " Yes, but you of all people should know how he is. Now, I must insist that you calm yourself down." Hank sternly ordered Kurt and pointed toward the young man's seat.  
  
"Danke, mutter." Kurt said sarcastically and returned to his seat.  
  
"Please, Kurt. Pay Logan no mind. Hank's right." Kitty began to rub Kurt's back and stroked his hair in a comforting gesture. "You need to take it easy."  
  
Kurt's angry expression slowly softened. He smiled sheepishly at Kitty. "Ja, you are right, as always." Kurt agreed as he kissed Kitty's hand.   
  
"Now, as I was saying," Hank began as he took the platform and started setting up his charts. " I am going to give a lecture, of sorts, to answer all of your questions and curiosities as to how this came about. After all," Hank stated, adjusting his glasses. "It is of dire importance that we all go into this well-informed."  
  
From across the table, Kurt glanced over at Logan. "It just caught him off-guard. We have been friends for years. Surely, this is not as shocking to him as to make him give up on our friendship." Kurt thought to himself. His anger subsiding and giving over to his reasoning side, he began to feel badly about the argument and wanted to try to make the feral mutant understand.  
  
Logan lifted his head off his hand and glanced back toward Kurt. He shot Kurt a look of  
pure disgust, anger and dissappointment with his blue eyes before looking back toward Hank to listen to the lecture. Sadness filled Kurt's golden eyes before looking away.  
  
"Then again," Kurt thought. "Maybe I'm wrong."  
*****************************  
  
After nearly an hour of intense step-by step explanation, as well as going over detailed diagrams and answering many questions, Hank finally folded his pointer together and stuck it into the inside pocket of his sportsjacket.   
  
Each X-man in the room was still in awe of this new idea, but Hank's thorough explanation gave them the understanding they needed to accept it.  
  
Another long silence followed after Hank returned to his seat. Too long of a silence for the Wagners, who were looking at each face in the room intently, searching for their reactions to all this.  
  
Scott was the first to speak. He stood, looking at each team member, and then turned to Kurt and Kitty. Scott's face broke into a wide smile. "As team leader, I think I speak for everyone in this room that, while this totally was 180 degrees from anything we expected to hear, we love Kurt and Kitty both. In our line of work, the outrageous is completely acceptable for us." Scott's smile became a warm, happy grin. "Kurt, you have our full support, and, as always, our love." Scott walked over to Kurt and took his hand. "We're all going to be here for you, Kurt. You should have thought no less of us. We're family, aren't we?" Scott asked.  
  
"Ja, that we are." Kurt grinned with happiness and relief. He stood to his feet, and Scott gave Kurt a big-brother hug.  
  
All the other X-men, save Logan, exploded into happy cheers and applause.  
  
"Well, how about dat?" Remy said. "They's gonna be anoder little elf runnin' around de mansion.  
Uncle Remy show him de ropes on de cards, non?" Remy said, walking over to give Kurt a pat on  
the back.  
  
"Oh,no!" Kurt laughed. "I don't want him or her to be a looser at poker!" Kurt smiled, patting Remy   
back on his shoulder. Kurt was so relieved. It was out, and everyone was happy. Well, almost everyone.  
Kurt felt ashamed that he had doubted them.  
  
"Oh, mah brother's gonna make me an aunt again!" Rogue had tears in her eyes. She walked over to Kurt, placing her  
hand on his stomach. "How ya feelin' so far, Kurt?"  
  
"Unglaublich!" Kurt smiled down at his sister.  
  
"I was wondering, Kitty," Betsy asked the younger woman. "How would we go about giving a baby shower to a guy.  
After all, this is the world's first, and I think pink is slightly over-feminine." Betsy smiled.  
  
"Kurt's favorite colors are red and black. Maybe we can do something with that?" Kitty giggled.  
  
"I certainly think we can." Jean said. She turned back toward Kurt, smiling at her old friend. "When your  
pregnancy advances, I should be able to detect the baby psionically. Would you like that?" Jean asked,  
a smile covering her beautiful face.  
  
"I and Kitty will truly love that. Thank you, Jean." Kurt beamed.   
  
"Are ya gonna be with Kurt when the baby arrives?" Rogue asked. "Hank said somethin' about the orb primin'  
itself. Said somethin' about that it would be similar to labor pains? Mah poor brother. Don't know what ya  
got yerself into." Rogue looked at Kurt. The vision of a very pregnant Kurt laying in bed panting, sweating, and  
screaming at the top of his lungs crossed Rogue's mind for a split second.  
  
"I do not mind it in the least bit. To have this baby in our lives is worth anything I must endure. I would go through   
hell and back." Kurt said, a serious tone in his voice.  
  
"I'm going to be there every step of the way. No question about it." Kitty looked at Kurt with love in her deep brown eyes.  
  
Amongst all the commotion, Logan, whom had been listening quietly this jabbering and still huffing in his seat, stood to his feet  
and bellowed. "Ya all HAVE GONE CRAZY!!" Logan shouted at the top of his lungs. "How in the world can ya all be happy about this?"  
He span back around toward Kurt, his eyes burning holes in the demonic-looking young man. Everyone else fell silent yet again,   
watching the two men.  
  
Kurt looked at Logan this time, not with anger, but with sadness in his face. "Logan." He quietly said to his friend. "Please, don't   
do this. Give yourself time to adjust. We all need that." Kurt placed his hand on Logan's shoulder in a friendship gesture.  
  
"Get yer damned hand offa me, Kurt!" Logan snarled, grabbing Kurt's hand and throwing it off his shoulder. "What the hell is wrong  
with ya, you damned crazy idiot! I thought you had more sense than this! Guess I was wrong!" Logan screamed, turning his back to Kurt  
in raw anger.  
  
Kurt shook his head. He wasn't going to let their friendship break apart like this. They had been through too much together.  
Kurt had to proceed carefully, otherwise he would say something he would later regret. Logan was stubborn and could try your   
last nerve, but..., "Logan, please look at me! I need your support in this. Next to the Professor, you are the closest thing I  
have to a father. It's important to me..." Kurt placed his hand once again on Logan's shoulder.  
  
"I told ya, get yer hand offa me!!" Logan jerked away. "My support is important to ya, huh? An' yer own life means nuthin?  
Ya'll heard Hank," Logan was addressing the others. He looked back to Kurt. "And you still did it , stupid!! What's gonna happen if  
somethin' goes wrong and kills ya off? Then not only has Kitty lost a son, she's lost her husband, too, and I've lost.." Logan cut   
himself short. "Just ferget it!! I can see I can't get through yer dumb, blue head. Maybe, when ya finally do yerself in, you'll  
finally be happy!" Logan was in Kurt's face now. "If it weren't fer yer so-called 'condition', I'd call yer butt to the carpet, and beat   
some sense into ya!" Logan glared at the others, and stormed out the Warroom door.  
  
Kurt merely stood in place, a deadpanned look on his face. Kitty was in tears. She loved Logan just as Kurt did. Why did he have to  
be such a jerk about this? She threw her arms around Kurt.  
  
"Oh, Kurt, please don't let this get you down." Kitty held him tight.  
  
"She's right, Kurt." Scott said. "Logan has always been stubborn and hardheaded. He'll come around."  
Scott rested a reassuring hand on Kurt's shoulder.  
  
"I hope you are right, mein friend." Kurt said sadly. Logan, his best friend, his big brother, his second father figure, could not  
give him the support he desperately sought.  
  
He turned to Kitty. "I will pray Logan comes around." He glanced down at the floor. Kurt was disheartened. "Surely Logan will  
come to an understanding, wouldn't he?" Kurt thought to himself.   
  
"I hope so. Dear God, please don't let me loose my friend. Please give him the understanding he needs to get through this."  
Kurt whispered this prayer to himself as he left the Warroom.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. reflections

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL's! NOT MINE!! I'M BROKE!!  
  
Chapter 8 of Junior X  
Reflections  
  
Aug 31, 2004  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Hey, remember me? It's Kitty Wagner!! I know, I know, it's been awhile since I decided to tell you about my life.  
A little over a year, actually. Where have I been, you ask? Long story. Let's just say I've been too disenchanted  
with life to even bother.  
  
When my son Jacob died, my days were filled with endless sorrow. Was there any need to bore you with each entry  
being nothing more than to tell you how I felt like my heart was ripped from my chest or what my latest suicidal   
thought was? Nah, you wouldn't want to hear that. So, I didn't trouble you.  
  
As I write this, I notice the date of the last entry I made before this one. The day before Jacob's death. My precious  
baby boy. You are looking down on us from your little cloud in heaven. Please know, mommy and daddy still love  
you. You are our firstborn, and always will be. We know you live on in our hearts.  
  
I so wish Jacob were here to see his new brother or sister, when he or she arrives. When our new baby gets here, he or   
she will know all about Jacob. They will learn to love him as we did.  
  
Kurt is now in his Eighth week. He seems so vigorous, so full of life, and so happy. Any of the possible complications  
McCoy had told us of have yet to surface. Thank God. Hopefully, these risks remain just a theory on Hank's part.  
Kurt is enjoying his "pregnancy" to the fullest.  
  
Kurt has his monthly checkup this afternoon. He and I can hardly wait. Hank says that Kurt should be far enough  
along to listen to the baby's heartbeat. Today is going to be a milestone , not just for us, but for the medical community  
as well.  
  
Oh, Kurt, how I love you. You have done so much for me, and now this, this wonderful miracle you are going through.  
Sure, all birth is miraculous, but even more so for us. This is a medical first. A man, my wonderful husband, carrying our  
unborn child inside him. Words cannot express the love I have in my heart for you, my soulmate, and the precious life  
that is growing inside you. I only hope that you can see that love in my actions and in my face every time that I speak  
the words "I love you" to you. I don't think I could ever say it enough.  
  
I plan to write here regularly now. There is so much going on in my life. So much that is magical and wonderous.  
I want to keep a detailed account of this, right up to the baby's birth.  
  
There is so much more I want to say, but I need to find my Kurt. I don't want him to be late for breakfast. After all,  
he's eating for two now.  
  
Thanks,  
Kitty Wagner.  
  
*************************  
  
Kitty smiled to herself as she finished scratching the last words into the entry. She carefully closed the book and locked  
it, placing it in the dresser drawer. She quickly got dressed and started down the hall, meeting Jean on her way to the   
staircase.  
  
"Good morning, Red!" Kitty chirped happily. "Tell me, have you seen that handsome husband of mine?"  
  
"Actually, I was going to ask you the same thing. I want to talk to both of you." Jean smiled.  
  
"Of course. What about?" Kitty asked.  
  
"Well, I know that Kurt has his checkup this afternoon." Jean stated.  
  
"Oh, yes. At four o'clock. Oh, Jean, I can't wait! We get to listen to the baby's heartbeat this afternoon!  
I can't wait to listen to my little one's heart!! This is going to be so intense!! We'll be able to see if the   
baby is doing well." Kitty babbled on proudly. The intense love she had for her husband and the unborn  
child was overwhelming to Jean, being an alpha class telepath. Sensing such love made Jean want to cry.  
It was the kind of love people searched all their lives for, but never found. Through this love, however,  
Jean could sense another strong emotion.  
  
Worry. Worry for her husband. Worry for the baby.  
  
Jean had sensed this also from Kitty for the past couple of weeks. And from Kurt. Hopefully, what she had to offer would put both  
their minds at ease.  
  
Jean crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows, wearing a clever smile on her face. "What if I told you that you don't have to wait until  
this afternoon. You could find out how the baby's doing right now." Jean said  
  
Kitty looked at her confused. "How? Is there a way?" Kitty asked wide-eyed.  
  
"Yes, actually. I talked to Kurt about it when we first learned of his,um, condition." Jean said. "I told him that,  
once the child's mind matured, I could psionically detect it. I can read it's mind, and see firsthand if everything is  
all right." Jean stated.  
  
Kitty was intrigued. Her eyes lit up. "Oh, Jean! You mean, you can do that?"  
  
"Certainly. That way, it would put yours and Kurt's mind at ease." She said  
  
"Oh, Jean! Thank you so much!! Will you do it for us!!? Please?" Kitty pleaded.  
  
"You bet, kiddo. I'd do anything for my brother and sister." Jean said, hugging Kitty.  
  
"Great! Let's go find our daddy to be, then!" Kitty said exitedly and the both of them went off in search  
of a certain pregnant blue elf.  
  
On their way down to the living room, they ran into Hank McCoy, who was making his way drowsedly down  
to the kitchen. Kitty stopped him. "Hank, have you seen Kurt?" She said, out of breath.  
  
"Why, yes. He's in the courtyard, playing basketball. Why? Is something wrong?" Hank perked up, concerned.  
  
"Oh, no, not at all! Jean's going to read our baby's mind!" Kitty giggled.  
  
"Well, that is indeed a terrific idea. It would be very beneficial to have a telepath scan this child.. It would be  
an instant alert to me if something were to go wrong. Fascinating." Hank started analysing in his mind, a smile  
of scientific thirst crossing his face.  
  
"I'll inform you of everything I find. That way, it will benefit you in giving Kurt his checkups." Jean smiled.  
"Is that O.K. with you, Kitty?"  
  
"Oh, by all means! I want Kurt to get all the prenatal care he can get!" It then slowly sunk in to Kitty's mind on   
where Hank said Kurt was. "Playing basketball? Is he crazy?! That can't be good for him in his condition!"  
  
"On the contrary, Kitty." Hank interrrupted her. "Light activity such as a friendly game of basketball is very beneficial  
for Kurt. It is low impact, and will help him keep his muscles toned. That's going to be very helpful as his pregnancy  
advances. He's going to have a lot of weight to carry around. You should know that."  
  
Kitty's mind flashed back. Yes, Kurt would definitly have some difficulty getting around as time goes along.  
He may have gotten out of things like morning sickness and mood swings because he's a guy, but the other  
discomforts were going to be there. Kitty remembered all to well the backaches and clumsiness that came  
with pregnancy.  
  
"True, just as long as he doesn't overexert himself." Kitty smiled.  
  
***********************************  
  
"Hey! Dat no fair!" Remy shouted at Scott as he sent an eyebeam at Remy's goal-making shot, flattening the   
ball as flat as a pancake. "Remy don't shoot cards at your slam dunks. Why you do dat?" Remy said in a half  
joking, half angry tone.   
  
"Hey, if you got it, flaunt it." Scott said, and began comically strutting like a model. "Besides, when Kurt teleports  
in front of the net, you never yell at him. Why can he cheat and not me?"  
  
"Don't be shiftin' off on de elf. Besides, Kurt not bamf this whole game. " Remy said, looking at the net, mourning over  
the shot that never made it.  
  
"There will be no bamfing for a while, my fine cajun friend." Kurt said, who just got over laughing at Scott and Remy,  
"Hank strictly forbade me from it. Too much stress on my system." Kurt abstractly layed a hand on his abdomen.  
"The look on your face was priceless, mein friend." Kurt looked over at Remy, who was still sullen. Kurt bursted out   
laughing.  
  
"Dat's it! Ya'll wanna make fun of Remy? Fine! I meet you two at de breakfast table." Remy kicked the gravels at his feet.  
He looked back toward Kurt. "I gotta admit, elf, ya sure give us a run for de money. I tell ya, dis pregnancy of yours  
not affect yer game one bit." Remy turned away, and began to make his way back toward the mansion, leaving Kurt and  
Scott standing alone in the courtyard.  
  
Scott looked at Kurt, and smiled. "You know, you look better now than you have in a long while. This pregnancy does  
seem to be good for you." Scott told him, walking over to the net to retrieve the deflated basketball he lasered.  
  
"Ja, that it is." Kurt grinned widely. "You know, Hank is going to listen to the baby's heartbeat today." Kurt drifted of  
in a sort of dream like state as he looked down at his stomach and placed both hands on it, rubbing it and smiling. He had  
such pride and happiness in his voice. "Yes, this child is truly a gift from heaven. And I love this little angel. With every  
fiber of my being. And did I mention how God truly blessed me when he gave me Kitty, as well?" Kurt looked back toward  
Scott, hands still protectively over his abdomen. "We are going to be so happy."  
  
"And it is about time, friend." Scott patted Kurt on the back. " This baby is going to be extremely lucky to   
have such loving parents. Not to mention, a whole house of people who are already in love with it as you and  
Kitty are." Scott gave Kurt a warm grin.  
  
"Except Logan." Kurt said sadly. Scott shook his head. Ever since the news came out of Kurt's condition, Logan had  
been fumingly angry at the young man. For weeks afterward, Logan never missed a chance to make a sarcastic remark  
to Kurt, ranting or raving. Kurt had vowed to himself to never return the remarks. It caused him nothing but unneeded  
stress in the longrun, and he knew that was not good for the child he was carrying.  
  
There was still no denying how Logan's attitude toward Kurt was making him heartsick. They were the closest of friends.  
They had been through so much together. Now, for the past two weeks, instead of shooting his mouth of at Kurt,  
Logan had resorted to the silent treatment. When Kurt would enter a room, Logan would quickly make an exit.   
If he couldn't do that, he would simply become quiet, and not even talk to Kurt, even ignoring him when he  
spoke, practically denying his existance. On Kurt's part, he preferred the cheap shots Logan made to this.  
At least Logan was speaking to him and acknowledging him when he was arguing with him.  
  
Kurt sighed heavily. "Oh well, I just have to keep hoping that Logan will finally learn to accept this. "  
He smiled at Scott weakly.  
  
"Don't worry yourself. Logan will finally come around. He's going to have to. He can deny all he wants, but that  
will not make things the way he thinks they should be." Scott said as he and Kurt walked back to the mansion.  
"C'mon. I'm sure breakfast is ready, and I would say that you and the little one there are starved." Scott poked   
Kurt lightly in the stomach.  
  
Kurt smiled and rubbed the spot Scott had just poked.   
"We're famished." Kurt chuckled.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. surprises

Disclamer: ALL MARVEL's!! NOT MINE!! NO SUE!!  
  
Chapter 9 of Junior X  
Surprises  
  
As Scott and Kurt made their way in the kitchen from their early morning basketball game, the first sight to  
hit them in the face was one red and black eyed cajun stuffing pancakes into his finely-chisled face, and a   
silent Logan reading the morning's paper.  
  
"Ya'll got here just in time!!" Remy said through a mouthful of pancakes and syrup. "If you didn't get  
here sooner, Remy would have eat the last o' dis, I guarantee. Where de butter?" Remy got up to look  
in the fridge.  
  
Logan looked up from his paper, glancing at the two men whom had just arrived at the breakfast table.  
"Mornin', Scotty." Logan said. He took a sip of coffee, and shot Kurt an evil look.  
  
"If you'll excuse me, My jeep needs some tunin'up. See ya later, Scott. Remy." Logan walked through the  
kitchen door.  
  
Kurt sighed heavily. "How long does he plan to keep this up?" the blue X-man asked Scott and Remy.  
"If you are all happy for me and Kitty, why can't Logan?" Kurt crossed his arms up on the table, and  
buryed his face in them.  
  
"Who knows?" Remy said, busy piling more pancakes on his plate. "I tink de  
world of Logan, but I blame de animal in 'im, no?" Remy began pouring gops of syrup on   
his pancakes.  
  
Scott, for a moment, was taken aback by the food on the cajun's plate drowning in so much syrup.  
He then looked back toward Kurt, sympathy in his voice. "Kurt, look at me."  
  
Kurt raised his face from his arms. "Ja?"  
  
"Just give it a little more time. I'm sure Logan isn't going to give up on an old friend. Here."  
Scott said, placing a stack of pancakes in front of Kurt. "You'd better eat these before Remy  
stakes a claim."  
  
Kurt smiled. He was starving to death, but he couldn't get the hurt he felt toward Logan out of   
his mind.  
  
Kurt suddenly turned his attention to the kitchen door as he heard female chatter coming closer and  
closer. The door swung open to reveal Jean and Kitty happily discussing something that neither of   
the men in the room could make out.  
  
Kitty sat next to her husband, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him on one blue cheek.  
"How is my wonderful husband this morning." she asked.  
  
"Wunderbar." Kurt said, a sad expression on his face.  
  
"Oh,Kurt, sweetheart! What's wrong?" Kitty looked into his golden eyes, then frowned as it dawned on  
her what probably upset Kurt. "Logan?" she asked. Kurt merely nodded.  
  
"I would do anything, anything to make Logan see..." Kurt finally spoke and   
began to drink his orange juice next to him.  
  
"My poor elf. Come here." Kitty hugged him as hard as her small frame would allow her. Kurt instantly began  
to feel better. His wife had a talent for that. "I'm fine, Kitty. You have always had a certain knack for  
making me happy, Ja?"  
  
"So, Kurt." Jean grinned. "You have a checkup today, I hear."  
  
"Indeed." Kurt smiled.  
  
"Well, I was talking to Kitty upstairs. Do you remember what I told you when we first found out about this?"  
Jean asked.  
  
"Ja. Something about reading the baby's thoughts?" Kurt's eyes widened at the prospect.  
  
"Yes, well, I think that you are far enough along to do it. Would you still like the idea? Jean asked sweetly.  
  
"Oh, yes! Yes we do!" Kurt was incredibly excited. "When can we do it?"  
  
"Right now, if you like."   
  
Just as Jean said this, Hank came stumbling in, huffing and puffing, trying to find his breath so   
he could talk to Kurt.  
  
"Oh, Kurt!! Just the man I want to see? Did Jean tell you? About psionically scanning the fetus?"  
Hank was still trying to find his breath. This whole experiment was so exciting for the young doctor.  
To Hank, everyday of Kurt's "pregnancy" was a new discovery, a new adventure to him.  
  
"Ja, Hank. Jean just now told us. I can't wait!"  
  
"Neither can I, Kurt, but not so fast." Kitty pulled Kurt back down in his seat.  
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Kitty pointed at Kurt's uneaten breakfast.  
  
"I'll take it! Dibs on the elf's pancakes!" Remy shouted.  
  
"Oh, no." Kurt said. " I do not want my baby's first thoughts to be anger toward me because  
I didn't give him or her a good breakfast!" Kurt chuckled, rubbing his stomach as he dug into  
his food.  
  
**************  
  
Jean, Hank, Kurt and Kitty all walked into the recreation room. They decided that it would be quiet and  
give them plenty of privacy for this moment. Kurt sat down on the large sectional sofa with Kitty and Hank  
on either side of him. Jean was crouched down on the floor in front of Kurt on her knees.  
  
Kurt grabbed Kitty's hand, lovingly placing it to his cheek. "Are you ready to know what your baby is thinking,  
my love?" Kurt asked.  
  
"Oh, yes! We can find out what our baby's feeling, what is going on. Oh, Kurt." Kitty placed a hand tenderly  
on his abdomen. "This is going to be wonderful!"  
  
"Yes, indeed." said Hank in agreement. " If you do not mind, I will be taping this conversation on audio tape.  
It will be critical to my studys on this marvelous and miraculous breakthrough." Hank said excitedly, loading a  
tape into the mini tape recorder.  
  
"By all means, Hank. But I would like a copy of the tape for myself." Kurt said.  
  
"Of course, my friend. May I ask exactly why?" Hank grinned  
  
"Well, everyone has mementos of their baby's first workd, their baby's first step. I will have my baby's first  
thought." Kurt smiled.  
  
"Are you ready, Kurt?" Jean asked.  
  
"More than ready." Kurt replyed.  
  
Jean reached over and gingerly lifted Kurt's shirt. Exposing his bare stomach. Jean gently layed her  
hands atop it, and a soft pink glow surrounded them as her powers surfaced.  
  
Kitty, Kurt, and Hank all three watched Jean's face carefully for her reaction. "Oh, please, dear Lord, let  
our child be alright." Kurt thought to himself.  
  
Slowly, a wide smile spread across Jean's face. She began to laugh histerically. Her green eyes flew open  
in disbelief and shock, but from what everyone in the room could see, this was the sort of shock that was the  
good kind. Her eyes were welled with tears of happiness, and Kurt and Kitty sighed with relief that the baby  
was obviously fine.  
  
Kurt opened his mouth to ask, but Hank beat him to it. "Jean, what did you detect? It is apparently very good  
from your reaction. What's going on?" Hank asked.  
  
"I have never felt such joy and happiness. Such contentment. Oh, Kurt, everything is just fine."  
Jean said with a sly smile.  
  
Kurt Wagner's heart filled with joy. "Oh, Jean!! This is wonderful!! Oh Kitty!" Kurt grabbed his wife up in  
his arms.  
  
"Yes, pure and utter happiness." Jean breathed. "From all three of them." she giggled.  
  
Kurt stopped dead in his tracks. He looked down at Kitty with shock in his face, then looked back at Jean.  
  
"Did you say all three of them?" Kurt asked. He turned to Dr. McCoy, who was also in deep shock over this revelation.  
  
"Jean, are you saying that..." Hank rose to his feet. " That Kurt is pregnant with triplets?"  
  
"Yes, that is exactly what I said." Jean said happily. "And rest assured, they are all doing very well."  
  
Hank went over this in his mind. A male pregnancy. A medical first. And now, to beat it all, it would be a multiple  
birth. This was getting better all the time.  
  
Kitty's eyes began to flow with tears of pure joy. " Oh, Kurt!! Did You hear that! Oh sweetheart, this is truly a miracle!!"  
Kitty squealed as she hugged up to her husband.  
  
Kurt's own eyes were filled with happiness and fascination. He grabbed his wife tightly, and looked to the sky in sheer ecstasy.  
"YES!!" Kurt cried in utter splendor. They stood there for the longest, in their own little world, so happy. Jean and Hank looked on  
so filled with hope and happiness for their friends that stood before them.  
  
Kitty finally broke loose from Kurt's arms. She began to affectionaltly rub Kurt's belly. Kurt placed his own, two-fingered  
hand on top of his wife's. Pure joy and relief in their faces.   
  
"Hello in there!!" Kitty spoke to Kurt's stomach. " Mommy and Daddy are so sorry that we haven't been talking to all three of  
you, but we didn't know you were in there!!" Kitty snuggled to Kurt.  
  
The look on Kurt's face told everyone that he was in heaven. He patted his stomach lovingly, looking down at it with hope in his  
eyes. "Oh, Daddy's little miracles! Daddy's tiny gifts from heaven!" He buryed his face in Kitty's hair, just holding her.  
  
"Oh, Kitty." He whispered in his wife's ear. "God has answered our every prayer. Not only has He given us a second chance, but now  
a third and a fourth."   
  
"Uh, Kurt?" Hank hated to interrupt their private celebration, but he had to make something clear.  
  
Kurt looked up from his wife's hair. "Yes, Hank?"  
  
"Remember your appointment for this afternoon. It is going to be very exciting." Hank smiled  
  
"Indeed, mein freund, Indeed." Kurt laughed.  
  
*******************  
  
Four thirty p.m. found Kurt and Kitty Wagner in the medroom for Kurt's monthly checkup.  
Kurt was sitting on the examination table, dressed in a plain white t-shirt and  
jeans, with Kitty beside him.  
  
"Oh, Kurt! You wonderful elf!" Kitty rested her head on his shoulder. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek.  
  
"Hello, proud papa." Hank smiled, carrying Kurt's medical file under one arm. "Are you ready for your  
exam?"  
  
"Of course." Kurt beamed. He lay flat on the table and proceeded to unzip his jeans, which he left on.  
Hank lifted Kurt's shirt and began to prod around on his abdomen with his strong, furry hands. Hank smiled  
and nodded in satisfaction. "Judging from the Shiar medical manuals, the orb is positioned as it should be,  
and the wall of the orb is hardening as expected. How do you feel overall, Kurt?" Hank asked, pulling off  
his latex gloves.  
  
"I feel absolutely wonderful." Kurt said in a dream-like state.  
  
"Very good, very good indeed." Hank opened the manila folder and began scribbling his findings on the paper   
work inside. He looked back toward Kurt, who had sat back up. "And, according to the lovely Mrs. Summers,  
we have triplets on the way. Just think, the first male pregnancy, and it's going to be more than one child!  
All this, and I have my finger right on the pulse of this medical breakthrough!!" Hank exclaimed. He was  
truly in awe and took pride that this had worked.  
  
"Hank." Kitty asked. "Will carrying more than one baby put Kurt at more of a risk? I remember when I was pregnant,  
you told me that a multiple birth was in a higher risk category." Kitty was concerned. She loved these babies and  
her husband dearly. She didn't want anything to happen to any of them.  
  
"Dear, dear Kitty." Hank shook his head with a grin of knowledge on his face. "We were talking about a normal  
pregnancy. A pregnancy in a female. While I am well aware that's the way nature really intended it to be, there  
are certain advantages to this orb."  
  
"All I heard were risks. Not advantages." Kitty stated.  
  
"There was no real advantages until now. Yes, I know that a multiple pregnancy puts a female in higher risk, but,  
due to the orb's makeup, there are less risk factors. You see, the orb has no outside openings as a natural uterus has.  
The only opening that will be in the orb is the one I will surgically make after it has ungone it's priming phase. It's walls  
become harder and harder as the fetuses grow, and this protects the unborn children. In the last month of pregnancy, it will be  
diamond hard due to its phalanx-type techno-organic nature. This same nature securely fastens the placenta to the walls of the   
oorb, making an accidental detachment of the placenta from it's walls virtually impossible. So you see, Kurt is actually low risk,  
in some areas." Hank kindly explained.  
  
This put Kitty's mind at ease. But Kurt had a question. "Hank, not that I'm complaining, but how exactly did  
triplets come about?" Kurt questioned.  
  
"Well," Hank stared off, trying to find the best way to tell the couple. " You see, I extracted three eggs from Kitty.  
This was in case we had any, well, duds, for lack of a better word. Apparently," Hank smiled in some shame, " I was so  
excited about this prospect that I accidently injected all three eggs into the orb before I implanted it in you." Hank  
was looking down at the ground. He hated to admit he made a mistake because of his neglegence.  
  
Kurt smiled. "And it's the best accident you ever made, mein freund."  
  
"I'm so glad you feel that way, Kurt. " Hank smiled and sighed, bringing out the fetal heart monitor.  
"Are you ready to listen to the babys' heartbeats?" he asked.  
  
Kitty began to beam. "Oh, yes Hank! We can't wait!" she said, her brown eyes sparkling with anticipation.  
  
Hank gingerly strapped the monitor to Kurt's stomach. After a few adjustments, three clear, strong, tiny  
heartbeats rang through the silence. Kitty stood beside the examination table, holding Kurt's hand.  
  
Kurt's eyes filled with awe and love. Jean's mindscan of the children, and now, this. He and Kitty were listening  
to their babys' heartbeats. He looked deep into his wife's eyes, which were filled with the same deep emotions he  
himself was feeling.  
  
"Kitty! Do you hear that? It's them! Our little ones!! Their little hearts!! MEIN GOTT!" Kurt was overjoyed.  
  
Hank smiled. He took the monitor off, and gently ran a hand across Kurt's stomach. "Rest easy, Kurt. Your children  
are doing fine in there. I have never had the pleasure of working on such a healthy pregnancy, male or female." Hank  
chuckled.  
  
Kitty threw her arms around her husband's neck. "Oh, Kurt." she rasped through sobs of joy. "Their going to be fine.  
We're going to be fine." She said, not wanting to let her husband go.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. making amends

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL'S NOT MINE! DIG?!!  
  
Author's note: I would like to thank all the reviewers who have left their   
wonderful feedback on my storys!! Especially, you, mistogirl!! I saw your page,  
and it ROCKED!! LOTS OF LOVE!! THIS CHAPTER IS FOR YOU!! HOPE YOU SEE IT SO YOU   
CAN READ IT!!  
  
And now, back to our story!!  
  
Chapter 10 of Junior X   
Making Amends  
  
Oct 20, 2007  
  
Dear Diary,  
Well, its quite obvious another summer has come and gone. The leaves have  
turned from green to the beautiful hues of autumn. This is such a wonderful   
season. So much to celebrate, especially this year, with everything miraculous  
in my life.   
  
Halloween is in a couple of days. Guess who's been volunteered to carve   
jack-o-laterns? You guessed it! Yours truly and Betsy. I wouldn't mind it so  
much, except that I always seem to put more nicks and cuts in my own hands than  
the pumpkins, and Betsy always winds up making fun of me. Good-naturedly, of course.  
With all the bandages I go through each October, Johnson and Johnson should send  
me Christmas cards!  
  
Kurt and I went to visit Jacob's and Ororo's graves yesterday evening. It was  
emotionally straining for us both. Visiting the graves only serves as a very real  
reminder of the wonderful foster mother and beautiful child we lost. Poor Kurt.  
I wept my heart out, and Kurt practically dissolved in grief. As hard as it is on  
me, it makes me physically ill to still see Kurt in so much pain. There is a   
permanent wound in his soul that refuses to heal. I know he still blames himself  
for Jacob's death. Why? There is no way to make Kurt understand that no one was  
at fault except the dirty bastards of the F.O.H. Oh, God forgive me, how I wish  
for their deaths.  
  
My precious husband. What I would not give to see him have the peace of mind he so  
deserves. He was still having crying spells last night. This truly worried me and   
Hank. It was causing him so much strain on his system, raising his blood pressure.  
Definitley not good for my elf in his condition. Not good at all for our three   
unborn children. Hank and I encouraged Kurt to go to bed early and get plenty of   
rest, which he reluctantly agreed to. If it had not been for his pregnancy, Hank  
would have definitley gave him a sedative.  
  
Hank and I decided that it would be best not to go near Jacob's grave until the babies  
are born. He made it absolutely clear to me that Kurt needs no strain at all on himself.  
  
Which brings me to another source of misery for Kurt: Logan. Even after all this time, Logan  
still gives Kurt the silent treatment. Kurt tries not to let this get to him, but I see the   
hurt in his beautiful glowing eyes every time Logan refuses to speak to him. I plan to talk  
to Logan tommorrow morning, to drill some sense intohis adamantium-plated head. I know that,  
deep in his heart, Logan still loves me and Kurt. Why he is acting this way has me at a loss.  
I plan to get to the bottom of it.  
  
Kurt is now nearing the end of his third month. His is still doing very well, even though he has  
lost some weight. He was right at 195 lbs. when the procedure was done. As of his checkup this  
month, he weighs 185 lbs. Hank said he was going to keep a watch on this, but that there was no  
need to be overly concerned about it right now. Hank merely advised Kurt to reduce his activity,  
get more rest, and increase his caloric intake.  
  
As I write this entry, it is nearly 10:00p.m. I look at my husband, asleep in our bed. His long,  
dark, purple-black hair spilled over hsi pillow, laying flat on his back in a gray t-shirt and   
matching sweatpants, breathing deeply in a well-deserved sleep.   
  
I look down at his stomach, which is already beginning to bulge slightly. Hank said that Kurt would  
probably start showing earlier than expected, since this was a multiple pregnancy. Did I ever write  
in here how much I love Kurt and those tiny little lives inside him? Yeah, I know, two-gazillion times  
already. But, I can never say it enough.  
  
Well, I better go. It's getting late, and I need to get some sleep. Besides, I'm afraid the light from my  
bedside lamp is going to wake Kurt up, and I certainly don't want that!  
  
Your Friend,  
Kitty Wagner.  
****************  
  
Kitty locked the tiny book and placed it on her nightstand. She clicked off her lamp.  
Gingerly positioning herself in bed as not to awaken her pregnant husband, she smiled as she nestled her head  
gently into his chest and placed one hand affectionatly on his stomach, closing her eyes.  
  
"Katzchen?" came Kurt's voice through the darkness.  
  
Kitty looked up at Kurt, and reached over to turn on the lamp on Kurt's bedside table. She looked at him  
tenderly and with an apologetic expression. "Oh, baby! Did I wake you up? I'm sorry! I was writing in my  
diary. I usually do it first thing in the morning but....."  
  
Kurt smiled and placed one blue finger gingerly to her lips to lovingly silence her. "It is quite alright, my  
love. Besides..." he looked up at the ceiling. " I wasn't sleeping well, anyway."  
  
Kitty's eyes widened with worry. " Are you still having nightmares,sweetheart?" Kitty asked, smoothing his  
hair out of his face. Her heart ached to look at him. "He looks so tired, so uneasy." Kitty thought to herself.  
  
"No, nothing like that. I haven't had any of those in quite some time now. I was just...." Kurt stopped in   
thought, then continued. "thinking."  
  
"Can you tell me what about?" Kitty said as she sat up to listen.  
  
"Jacob." Kurt said, rolling over on his side, facing Kitty. "When we visited his grave yesterday evening.  
Gott, Kitty." He was trying his best to choke back the sobs that were trying to rise to his throat. "It has  
been over a year now, and it still doesn't seem real. We had a beautiful, healthy son. And now? Now he's gone."  
Kurt rolled back on his back, hands behind his head. His eyes were scanning the ceiling once again, tears streaming  
silently from them.  
  
Kitty could feel her own eyes begin to sting, but held back. She had to calm Kurt down, and couldn't if she herself were  
crying.  
  
"Kurt, oh my darling." She snuggled up to him, throwing her arms around him. "Please, please don't get upset! My baby..."  
she took a deep breath and finally spoke. "This isn't good for you."  
  
Kurt stayed silent for a long moment. He finally wrapped his arms around Kitty.  
"I can still see him, Kitty. His little face with its chubby little cheeks. The way he would run into our arms after we  
had been away on a mission. He had so much love in his little soul." Kurt took a deep breath. "And we had so much for him."  
  
It was becoming damned near impossible to hold back her tears. But she did. Kitty learned to, for her husband's sake. "Kurt,  
this torment you are putting yourself through, it's got to end."  
  
She propped herself up on one elbow and looked into Kurt's eyes. Suprisingly, he had stopped crying.   
  
"Yes, I will always love and miss my little Jacob. He was and still is our first child. He is in heaven, looking down on us and   
watching over us, smiling his beautiful little smile. I feel him with me every day, in my heart. Someday, we will be with him again."  
Kurt said, a look of peace on his face. A look Kitty had not seen in quite a while.  
  
Kitty was relieved to see Kurt regain his composure. "Is that what you've been thinking about, Fuzzy?" Kitty said, her own eyes glassed  
over with tears, but none spilling. God, she hadn't called Kurt by Fuzzy since before they were married.  
  
"Ja. I have been thinking about this for the past three months." Kurt span his head around to look at Kitty. "I love Jacob. Always will.  
But, I feel the grief must finally end. The memories must take the place of that." Kurt was silent for a moment, then a smile of realization  
came on his face. "God has smiled on us, liebchen. We have been given a blessing. Not only did He answer our prayers, He performed a miracle  
threefold. I have to learn to move on, for our sake." Kurt sat up, running his hands through his long hair, a common habit for him when he was  
nervous or exhausted, and he was definitly both. Kurt looked down at his slightly bulging belly and began to rub it affectionatly. "For their  
sakes." He smiled.  
  
Kitty was relieved. "So, you are going to be O.K.?" Kitty ran a finger along his jaw.  
  
"So long as I have you, and these children. So long as I have my friends, my family. I will survive.  
Hopefully, to become stronger." Kurt said ,determination in his eyes.  
  
Kitty turned the lamp out, and nestled her head back down into Kurt's chest.  
  
"Kitty?" Kurt asked.  
  
"Yes, my love." she said.  
  
"You do know how much I love you, don't you?" Kurt asked, snuggling to her.  
  
"You never let me forget, my darling husband." she hugged Kurt tighter.  
  
"Kitty?" he asked again.  
  
"Yes?" she said.  
  
"Whatever we do, I don't want to ever forget Jacob. That is one of my worst fears.  
That we will toss him away in some far corner of our minds. Promise me?" Kurt asked.  
  
This request nearly tore Kitty's heart in two. She began to blink back tears. "My  
wonderful husband. Dear, dear Kurt. How I love you." she thought to herself.  
  
"We will never forget Jacob. Never." she reassured him. She patted Kurt's stomach.  
"A part of him will live on, Kurt. In these three."  
  
Kurt simply replyed. "Danke."  
  
Kitty finally fell sound asleep. Sleep also began to play with Kurt's eyes.  
He could feel himself start to slip off. He felt somewhat better. It was if he   
had vomited up a vile poison that had made him sick for a long time.  
  
As sleep started to take control of his mind, Kurt looked back down at his stomach, and rubbed it   
protectively, murmuring in his native german. "I love you so much, my little   
miracles. Daddy will not let you down. You can count on that." A tear of happiness slipped from his eye as he  
drifted off to sleep.   
  
  
  



	11. blessed

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL'S!! NOT MINE!!! NO SUE!!  
  
Chapter 11 of Junior X  
Blessed  
  
written with the assistance and inspiration of Mistogirl/Thundercat. YOU GO GIRL!!!  
  
Bright Indian Summer sunlight shown through the window in Kurt Wagner's bedroom, hitting him dead in the  
face and stirring him rudely awake. He groggely looked beside him at Kitty's side of the bed. It was empty.  
"I wonder where my lovely wife is right now." he murmured to himself. He looked over at at the digital clock on   
his nightstand. "Ten thirty!! Mein Gott!! Did I go into a coma?" Kurt hopped himself out of bed, running his hands   
through his hair on his way to the closet. He pulled out a pair of jeans. Shoving his feet into the legs, he proceeded to  
pull them up. They fit perfectly.  
  
Until he tried to button them around his waist, at least.  
  
He sighed. "Looks like I outgrew my old jeans. I have to remember, these are the jeans I wore before...." he chuckled.  
"Before I started to show." He smiled, slipping the jeans off. As he tossed them onto the bed, Kitty walked into the  
bedroom, a smile on her face. She was dressed in a tight pink babydoll t-shirt and flare jeans. Kurt eyed her like a dog  
would a steak. "You look gorgeous, as always." Kurt said, thoughts of what he would love to do with his wife dancing  
behind his golden eyes.  
  
"I could say the same for you, handsome." She walked over, snuggling her head to him and kissing him on his cheek.  
She looked down at his bare legs and boxers, giggling. "So, are you coming to breakfast like this?" she asked him, laughing.  
  
Kurt was trying to hold back his own laughter. In some ways, it was funny. But not entirely. "Well, you see, Katzchen,  
my jeans don't fit me anymore." He pointed to his stomach. "Our children are in the way." He smiled with satisfaction.  
He loved the babies so much, and anyone could clearly see it every time he mentioned them.   
  
"I can certainly see that." Kitty said, gingerly rubbing his stomach in a circular motion. "Hold on just a minute."  
  
Kitty walked over to the bed, and pulled out a shopping bag, full of new t-shirts, sweaters, jeans and the like. "I went shopping  
last week for you, sweetheart. I knew you would need these." She hugged him up again. "After all, you're a growing boy."  
  
"Ja, and will be growing bigger in the months to come. Leibling, how much did all of this cost?" Kurt said, examining one of  
the many shirts sprawled on the bed.  
  
"I could never spend enough on you, Kurt." She looked down at a black pair of jeans and a button-up, longsleeve cotton  
shirt. "Here, wear these. I'd like to see you in them." She handed them to her husband, a loving look on her face.  
  
Kurt slid on the jeans. "A little big." Kurt thought to himself. "Which is o.k. I'll definitly be growing into them later."  
He buttoned up the white shirt and stood back, allowing Kitty to look him up and down.  
  
"You like?" Kurt asked his wife.  
  
"I love." Kitty said, kissing him once again on the cheek. "How did you rest last night?" She asked, concerned. "Well, I hope."   
  
"Too well. I slept too late! Why did you let me do that?" Kurt asked.  
  
"Because, I want you to take care of yourself. Especially now. Which reminds me, your breakfast is downstairs and I want you  
to eat every last crumb. Understand?" Kitty hugged Kurt once again as tight as she could.  
  
"I don't think that will be a problem." Kurt chuckled. "I'm starving."  
  
"I'll meet you in the kitchen, then? I need to check on the bacon." Kitty said walking back out of the room.  
  
Kurt stopped for a moment. He made his way to the full-length mirror in his room. He gently lifted his shirt, and stood  
looking at his stomach. He was not showing very well yet, but he was definitly starting to peak out. His once washboard  
abdomen was now slightly pushed outward. It was completely hidden by the baggy clothes Kitty had just bought him, but  
they both knew it was there. He smiled. His pregnancy, as well as these tiny little lives were becoming more and more   
real to him with each passing month.  
  
Kurt walked toward the door, but not without noticing the calendar hanging on the wall next to the door frame.  
"Today is October 21st." Kurt thought to himself. His due date was toward the end of March, and he still had  
quite a while to go. He noticed that Kitty had started xing out the days, a countdown to the triplet's birth. He  
smiled yet again as he made his way to the kitchen.  
  
*****************  
  
The typical morning smells of breakfast greeted Kurt as he walked through the kitchen door. He walked over to his  
wife, who was placing the bacon on a paper towel to drain. He kissed her on the cheek, and she smiled.  
  
"Good morning, Kurt." The Professor said as he took a sip of coffee. "And how are you feeling this morning?"  
  
"Wonderful, as always." Kurt said happily. He looked around. Save for Kitty, himself, the Professor, and Remy,   
the kitchen was empty. "Because you got up late, silly." He told himself. "Where are the others?" Kurt asked.  
  
"They are decorating the front lawn. Halloween is next week, after all. Scott found some corn fodders today. "  
The Professor glanced in Kitty's direction. " I assume you and Betsy are on jack-o-latern duty?" The Professor  
asked.  
  
Kitty frowned. "Yes, that we are. Goodbye, fingers!" Kitty giggled as she spoke to her hands. She placed Kurt's   
breakfast in front of him. "And if you're still hungry,baby," Kitty said as she kissed him on the forehead. "There's  
plenty more where that came from."  
  
"Good! Remy starved!" the cajun shouted, his red-on-black eyes wide. When it came to food, Remy was always ready  
for action. He generously piled bacon onto his plate. "Where be de salt?" he asked.  
  
"Salt? On bacon? You're crazy!" Kitty rolled her eyes. It seemed that Remy always had to have either salt or hot sauce  
with his meals, no matter what they were having.  
  
Despite Remy's hardy cajun appetite, he was no match for Kurt nowadays. As Kitty sat down to her own breakfast, she   
watched her husband ravenously inhale two eggs, three slices of bacon, two slices of toast, two large bowls of   
oatmeal, and a tall glass of juice. Kitty smiled. She remembered fondly hwo hungry she stayed when she was pregnant.  
Besides, it took a load off her mind to know that Kurt had a healthy appetite.   
  
Remy's eyes widened as Kurt then proceeded to pile more bacon and eggs on his plate. "Mon deui!!" Remy exclaimed.  
"An everybody say Remy a pig!! What about you, Non?" Remy asked good naturedly.  
  
The Professor looked up from his newspaper and smiled. "Kurt has every reason to eat the way he does. He is eating for  
four now." The Professor's warm smile made its way to Kurt, who was slightly blushing from embarrasment. He knew he  
ate like a horse now. But he couldn't help it. He stayed hungry. No matter how much he ate, he couldn't seem to keep his  
stomach full. Yes, there was a good reason for his appetite being the way it was, but it was no less embarrasing for him  
when somebody mentioned it.  
  
Kitty could see her husband's face turn a deep purple from what Remy said. She knew that the cajun was joking, but to  
her, this was nothing to make fun of. Kurt was the most wonderful husband in the world, to volunteer to carry their children.  
She was not going to stand for anyone making him feel uncomfortable about it , in fun or not. "Well, Remy." Kitty said  
somewhat sarcastically as she sat her fork down on her plate. "When you get pregnant with triplets, you can eat all you  
want and we won't say a word!" she grinned.  
  
"Oh, no, no way dis boy goin' through dat on purpose!! Besides, Remy just kiddin! Kurt really brave for doin' dis!! Hell,  
I know I wouldn't" Remy said as he continued his breakfast.  
  
Kitty grimmaced a little, then turned her attention back toward Kurt, who was busying himself in proceeding to wolf  
down four more eggs, four more pieces of toast, six pieces of bacon, another bowl of oatmeal, and two glasses of milk.  
She smiled lovingly at him.  
  
"There are some chocolate donuts in the cabinet, if you'd like, Kurt." The Professor offered.  
  
Kurt grinned sheepishly. "Danke, Professor. I am fine for now. I'm sure I will attack them later, Ja?"  
  
"Chocolate, you say?" Remy asked as he made his way to the cabinet.  
  
Kitty placed one arm around Kurt's neck and patted his belly with the other as she looked tenderly in his eyes.  
"Are you sure our little ones don't want any?" she asked.  
  
Kurt chuckled. His soul felt so at ease, so truly happy now. "Nien, I am sure. Trust me, I will be back in here later."  
He kissed Kitty on the cheek.  
  
"Remy gotta go! If I don't help Rogue out wit de scarcrows, she have my handsome head, Non?" He said as he made  
his way out the kitchen door.  
  
"I should be leaving as well. I would like to see how well the front lawn looks." The Professor said as he shot the  
young couple a warm look and hovered out the kitchen behind Remy.  
  
They were finally alone. Kitty sat in Kurt's lap and snuggled to him. " Oh, by the way, I'm going shopping with  
Jean today. Do you need anything while I'm out?" She asked.  
  
"Anything?" Kurt said  
  
"Just name it, handsome, and it's yours." Kitty said.  
  
"Will you pick up some fudge ripple ice cream?" He grinned, " I just want some so bad for some reason."  
  
Kitty kissed him deeply in the lips. "It's called a craving, tiger. Very commom for someone in your condition."  
She looked into his golden eyes lovingly and began to run her hands through his thick, long hair. Her gaze  
turned down to his belly. She smiled and began rubbing it affectionatly as she spoke to it. "And don't you  
worry, little ones. If my babies want ice cream, their wish is my command." She said this in a cutsy baby  
voice, making Kurt laugh.  
  
Just then, Jean poked her head in the kitchen door. "Kitty? I hate to interrupt you lovebirds, but are you ready to go?'  
she asked.  
  
"Sure! I'll be there in a second." Kitty told the redhead as she nodded and walked out the door.  
  
"I better go." Kitty told Kurt, a part of her wanting to stay here with her husband.  
  
"What on earth will I do with my time if you're not here?" he asked, resting his head on her chest.  
  
"Well, I'm sure a suave, sophisticated man like yourself can find a dozen things. But they better be relaxing,   
soothing things that aren't going to tire you out." Kitty said sternly, shaking a finger in his face.  
  
Kurt smiled and kissed the same finger she was shaking at him. "Don't worry. I have no intention of that."  
  
  
***************  
  
As Jean and Kitty made their way down the steps of the Xavier Institute, the two women ran into Logan,  
returning from an early morning ride on his harley, so typical of Saturday mornings for him.  
  
"Mornin' Red, Kitty." Logan gruffly said as he walked to the front door.  
  
Kitty took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. She promised herself last night that she would have this   
talk with Logan. "Enough is enough. If he refuses to talk, I at least tried. I have to try. For Kurt's  
sake. For the babies' sake, and for mine." She turned to Logan, hoping not to loose her nerve.  
  
"Logan." she called to him calmly, "We need to talk." Her attention turned to Jean. "Jean, could you please   
wait in the car? This is sort of private."  
  
Jean nodded in agreement. She knew good and well what the impending conversation was about. She turned and  
walked to the car, leaving Kitty and Logan alone to converse.  
  
Logan turned to face the young woman. A young woman whom he loved as a daughter. The same girl who was married  
to the young demonic-looking german whom he loved as a son. The same damned german who stupidly has risked his  
life for this insane attempt at a family. Logan closed his eyes with that thought, and sighed. "Kitty, I know   
what yer gonna say, and I don't wanna hear a million excused fer yer idiotic dumbass of a husband who seems to  
be on some sorta suicide kick." And with that, he turned back to the door.  
  
But before he could walk through it, Kitty's voice cut through the air once more, grabbing his attention. "So you're   
cutting me off? Just like that. You've ranted, raved and cussed like a sailor for the past three months about this whole  
thing, but you don't want to hear anyone else's side?" Kitty was furious.  
  
Logan slowly turned back to meet her gaze. "Punkin, I..."  
  
"Don't punkin me!!! You've treated my husband like shit for the past couple of months!! After all the times he stood by   
you, took up for you when everyone else had given up. But you forgot all about that, didn't you?! Just because your  
feeble dinosaur-like mind can't open up and accept a little thing like Kurt being pregnant?!" Kitty was angry, tears of  
rage filling her dark brown eyes. "FINE THEN!! You say you care about us? You don't give a damn at all!! Kurt needs our  
support now more than ever, and you were the one person he thought he would surely get it from. So what do you do? YOU   
TURN YOUR HAIRY BACK ON HIM!! WELL, FUCK YOU, LOGAN!!!" Kitty shrieked and stomped off to Jean's car, tears streaking  
her makeup.  
  
Those words felt like a white-hot poker had been shoved in Logan's chest. He stood, watching Kitty, his little girl, hurt  
so bad, and he was the main cause of it. He bit his lower lip. "Damn, Logan." he told himself. "Why can't ya tell them  
what's really botherin' ya about this whole thing? These are yer loved ones, not enemies or total strangers!! But you've  
treated them like that, ain't cha? I called Kurt a dumbass." Logan looked down at the welcome mat he was standing on.  
"But yer the real dumbass. Why can't ya just tell 'em how ya feel? What they mean to ya, instead of tryin' ta shut  
out yer feelin's fer em by blowin' up in their faces like ya have been?" He slammed his fists into the door frame. He   
winced slightly.  
  
Through the haze of the fading pain in his knuckles, however, he made an important decision.  
  
"I need to talk to the elf." He whispered under his breath. "I can catch Kitty later, but Kurt is the one  
I've really hurt. Kitty's upset because of that. I love em both too much ta let this go on!" He shook his  
head. "Ye're a piece o' work, bub." He told himself as he decided to work off some tension in the danger room.  
  
***********  
  
Just two hours after breakfast found one blue elf snatching the donuts the Professor had told him about earlier from the cabinet.  
He shoved one in his mouth, savoring every chocolate-frosted bite. "Kitty told me that I would find something to do with my time.  
Eating has certainly become one of my favorite hobbies of late." Kurt thought to himself as he took another donut out of the package  
and began to cram it eagerly into his mouth. He looked back down into the box for another. "Empty. Remy must have taken the majority  
of these." Kurt said with a grin as he proceeded to prowl in the drawer below him. He found a bag of Doritos chips, which he began   
immediatly devouring.  
  
Kurt almost choked on them as Logan walked into the kitchen by surprise. He walked straight to the refrigerator, paying Kurt no mind.  
Even if the sad look in his yellow eyes caused Logan to wince. He would talk to him later, sure. But not now. Now wasn't the right time.  
He pulled a beer out and sat at the kitchen table, still ignoring the young man.  
  
Kurt gazed down at the floor, not sure whether to approach Logan or not. "What the hell?" he told himself. "If Logan refuses to  
make a move of friendship, then it is left to me to do it." Kurt sat down next to Logan, not daring to look him directly in the eye,  
not yet anyway.  
  
"Logan." Kurt finally managed to say. "There's a basketball game tonight on channel 10. The Phoenix Suns vs. the Boston Celtics.   
You want to watch it with me? Just like we used to?" Kurt asked, fearful of the answer.  
  
Kurt merely recieved a quick look from Logan, who stared away from him once more, taking a long drink from his beer.  
  
Kurt took a deep breath. "It starts at 8:00p.m. What do you say?"  
  
Logan totally ignored him this time.  
  
Kurt became frustrated. "Fine." He said coldly and got up to put the chips back in the drawer.  
  
Logan's attention was suddenly captured by Kurt as he doubled over in pain.  
  
"OOWWW!! GOTT IN HIEMMEL!!!" Kurt squalled.  
  
Logan's stomach dropped to the floor. "Oh, God,NO!! KURT!!" Logan shouted as he rushed to Kurt's  
side.  
  
"KURT!!! WHAT'S WRONG? WHERE YA HURTIN'? HOW BAD IS IT? I GOTTA GET HANK!!!!!" Logan was practically  
in a panic.  
  
"Verdamnt drawer!!" Kurt cursed. He held out his thumb, which had accidentaly gotten slammed on the  
drawer as he closed it. He placed it in his mouth and began sucking it in pain.  
  
Logan's look of intense worry melted into relief, then anger. "GOD DAMMIT, ELF! YA SCARED THE HELL  
OUTTA ME!! I THOUGHT SOMETHING....." Logan stopped dead. He stormed out of the kitchen, murmuring under his  
breath, and leaving Kurt to himself.  
  
Kurt watched as the door swung shut behind Logan, and smiled widely. "So, Logan is not as angry as I once  
thought, Ja?" He told himself. There was hope after all.  
*****************  
  
Two O'clock p.m. found Kurt Wagner in the solitude that was his and his wife's bedroom. It had been a long  
morning, and he decided to a little quiet time to himself with a good book. "Don Quioxite." Kurt smiled.  
No matter how many times he read this book, it never seemed to loose its luster to him.   
  
He retreated to the recliner in the corner and felt every muscle in his body loosen and relax. He reclined  
back as far as the chair would go. His tail layed atop the armrest. He held the book open from the bottom with  
one hand, his other hand resting lightly atop the slight bulge of his pregnant belly.  
  
It was quiet, too quiet.  
  
"I'll click on the radio." He thought to himself as he reaced over to the shelf beside him where it sat.  
It was common for Kurt to read and listen to music at the same time. He found both to be mutually soothing.  
  
As he adjusted the volume, he heard the most horrible noise on earth. A Kenny G song. "Ugh." Kurt said in  
disgust as he tried in vain to obtain a classic rock station. "Oh, well, I guess this will have to do."  
He sighed as he continued with his book.  
  
The Kenny G catastrophe finally faded in the background, and not soon enough for Kurt. His musical taste leaned more  
to the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and mostly 70's hard-type rock. Kitty had even commented on his  
tastes in sound. "For someone so romantic and compassionate." She had said," It's hard to believe you  
are the type who listens to ground pounding rock-n-roll." Kurt had merely replyed that it was the german blood  
in him that caused him to like such loud music, and Kitty had died in hysterical laughter at his lame excuse.  
She herself liked this sort of music, but no matter how much he listened to it, he could not develope a taste  
for any of it.  
  
Kurt had just started on Chapter four when his attention was suddenly captured by a song he had heard Kitty  
play many times before. A song he always dismissed and payed no mind to. Elton John, was it? It was  
For some reason, he sat and heard the song for its meaning for the first time.  
It flowed softly to him, as if his very thoughts were set to music.  
  
Hey you, you're a child in my head  
You haven't walked yet  
you're first words have yet to be said  
but I swear, you'll be blessed.  
  
The promise Kurt often spoke to his unborn children. Here it was, in this song.   
  
I know you're still just a dream  
your eyes might be green   
or the bluest that I've ever seen  
anyway you'll be blessed  
  
His children, they would be beautiful. To him, they could be nothing less than  
that. They were his angels. He knew nothing of what they looked like, didn't even  
know if they were boys or girls yet. But they were his pride and joy. Kurt   
smiled, drifting off in a dream state as he listened to the rest of the song.  
  
And you, you'll be blessed  
You'll have the best, I promise you that  
I'll pick a star from the sky  
pull your name from a hat  
I promise you that  
I promise you that  
You'll be blessed.  
  
The promise again. He would go through hell's fires, try the impossible for these  
children.  
  
I need you, before I'm too old  
to have and to hold  
to walk with you and watch you grow  
and know that you'll be blessed  
and you, you'll be blessed.  
  
This verse, it spoke his fears. The ones he and Kitty had before going through  
this procedure. That they may not have any children. They defyed the odds. And  
now, now three healthy babies were on their way into their lives. To love,  
to make them whole once again.  
  
and you, you'll be blessed  
you'll have the best  
I promise you that  
I'll pick a star from the sky  
pull your name from a hat.  
I promise you that,  
I promise you that  
you'll be blessed.  
  
Kurt sat in awe. He closed the book and sat it down beside his chair, the radio  
speaking softly over and over again as a reminder of his feelings.  
  
and you, you'll be blessed  
you'll have the best  
I promise you that  
I'll pick a star from the sky  
pull your name from a hat  
I promise you that  
I promise you that  
you'll be blessed.  
  
He smiled, a small laugh of ironic joy escaping his blue lips. He looked down  
at his stomach. He could never fully express the love he had in his heart for these  
tiny lives inside him. With every passing month, that love became almost unbearable  
for him. He rubbed his stomach with both hands, sheer ecstasy in his golden eyes.  
  
I promise you that  
you'll be blessed  
promise you that  
you'll be blessed  
promise you that  
you'll be blessed.  
  
Kurt leaned back, his hands still on his stomach, giving it all of his loving attention.  
"Yes, little ones, you will be blessed, in every way I possibly can make possible.   
You are definitly mine and your mother's little miracles. I promise, always."  
Kurt told the unborn children, a tear of happiness slipping out from one eye.  
He did that a lot nowadays.   
  
And with that, Kurt fell asleep in the chair, his hands still tenderly rubbing his  
stomach and the precious miracles it held.  
  
  
  
  



	12. Of stuffed animals and basketball games

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL'S!! NOT MINE!! NO SUE!!  
  
Author's note: Thanks to all the reviewers who gave me their praise.  
I just can't thank any of you enough. This story is written for all of  
you. Especially you, mistogirl. YOU RULE!!  
  
Chapt 12 of Junior X  
  
Of stuffed animals and basketball games.  
  
He was in heaven.  
  
A gentle angel was caressing him on his cheek. Beautiful dark hair, with eyes  
of the deepest amber. It spoke to him softly, filling his heart with love.  
  
"Kurt?" It's celestial voice called.  
  
He snapped awake. To his delight, his dream was not all in his head. His angel,  
his Katzchen, Kitty Pryde, had just returned from her shopping trip. She sat on the  
edge of the chair, softly coaxing him awake by stroking his cheek. "I'm sorry!! I  
didn't want to wake you up, sweetheart, but I just wanted to let you know I'm back'  
Kitty said as she kissed him passionately, her tongue deeply tasting him. "I won't  
bring up what happened with Logan this morning. No need. Kurt doesn't need any  
stress whatsoever." She thought to herself as she smiled at him and looked deeply into  
his eyes. "It's good to see you getting the rest you need, darling. So, how was  
your day?"  
  
"Nice, but boring without you, love." Kurt purred as he pulled her down to him on the chair  
and began nibbling her neck.  
  
Kitty moaned with pleasure, slightly laughing as his fangs tickled her skin.  
"I got your ice cream, fuzzy." Kitty said as she rubbed his belly.  
  
"Danke, but right now, I'm hungry for something else." Kurt said seductively as one strong three-  
fingered hand ran its way up her jean-clad thigh.  
  
Kitty breathed deeply. She loved him so. Being with Kurt gave her such a rush, such a natural high.  
To her, no drug or substance could make her so drunk with pleasure as the love she had for her husband  
and her three unborn children. "Oh, is that so?" She teased, unbuttoning his jeans.  
  
He groaned with need as he stood up and guided Kitty to the bed. He began to plant kisses on her neck as she  
began to unbutton his shirt.  
  
"Now, would you mind satisfying your pregnant husband's craving?" Kurt grinned, looking into her deep brown  
eyes.  
  
"Actually, I'm craving the same thing." She said as she began to kiss his now-bare chest.  
  
For the next hour, the two lovers were one, lost in their own blissful world.  
  
*************  
  
Saturday afternoons were typically boring around the X-mansion. This one was no exception. Each X-man   
looked to his or her own devices for entertainment or leisure.  
  
How she hated to have so much free time on her hands. It gave her too much time to ponder life and how utterly  
useless she felt hers was. Rogue stood quietly on the balcony outside her room, the cool autumn air playing   
with her white shocked auburn hair. It was times like this that she felt hopeless and alone, her green eyes  
welling with tears of dreams that would never be.  
  
"All this time," she thought to herself. "An' ah ain't got no more control over mah powers than Ah did when Ah  
first got here." The simplest of thing that people took for granted, touching another person, kissing or expressing  
love, having children. Those were things that people wouldn't treat so carelessly if they knew the pain of never  
being able to have those things, of doing without.   
  
She loathed feeling sorry for herself. She absolutely hated it. She was suppose to be stronger than this. "Ol tough-  
as nails Rogue. Never givin' an inch." Her eyes were overflowing now. If only people knew how much pain she held.  
To look at couples that were so happy like Kurt and Kitty or Scott and Jean only made the pain worse, filling her  
with jealousy she wished she didn't have. She loved them all dearly, but she couldn't help herself. She simply   
wanted the things they had.  
  
"Mon petite? Where you be?" came a male voice from the inside.  
  
"Aw, God!" Rogue thought to herself. She couldn't let him see her like this. She quickly wiped the tears as best she  
could, and called out to the voice's owner. "Out here, Remy!" she shouted, putting on her best smile.  
  
"Ah! Dere you are, Chere!" Remy walked out onto the balcony. He smiled, and carefully put one arm around her. "Why you  
be out here, all by yourself? You too beautiful to be alone." He said, charming her all the way.  
  
"Yeah, well." She mumbled, turning her gaze away from him and onto the courtyard below.   
  
A frown came onto the Cajun's face. He stepped back and looked at his love. "Aw, what de matter wit' mah petit? Tell Remy.  
You know Ah be here for you, no matter." Remy said as he forced the southern belle to rest her head on his chest.  
  
"Remy, doncha ever wanna, well..." she looked up at him, her green eyes burning into Remy's. "Ah mean, doncha wanna woman  
you can touch? Doncha think I'm a waste of time? After all, I can never fully be with you, never bear you a child."  
  
Remy hugged her as tightly as possible. He knew what had made her feel this way. She was planning a baby shower for Kurt  
in the next couple of months, and that was what had her thinking. "It's Kurt, ain't it?" Remy asked. "You got ta thinkin' about  
dis because you look at Kurt and he's..." Remy trailed off, stiffling back a laugh. He couldn't help it. He couldn't get used to  
saying it. Even though in his mind he had grown to accept it, saying it gave it realism. "Kurt's pregnant, an' it's made ya think  
about kids, non?" Remy asked tenderly, brushing her hair out of her face, careful not to touch bare skin.  
  
Rogue simply nodded. "When Ah was younger, Ah had so many hopes, so many dreams. Ah though fer sure Ah'd be able to control mah powers  
by now. Bein' the loser Ah am, Ah never could." she was sobbing now. "An' you deserve better n' me!"  
  
The cajun was practically insulted by what she just said.  
  
"Chere! How dare you! Judge mah taste in women as unfit!! An' you just insulted de love of Remy's life!" He forced Rogue to look him in the   
eye.  
  
"Mon petite, you should've been an x-man long enough to know dat de impossible always be possible." He sighed. "Kitty and Kurt, de thought  
de never have anoder baby, but Hank, he made it possible. We got us a pregnant man on our hands, fer God's sake! Who would have ever dreamed!  
If dat be possible..." He buried her head in his chest. "Den anything be possible for you, darlin'"  
  
Rogue hugged Remy tight. "You really think so? Ah mean, who knows how long...."  
  
"Yes, mah peach. Remy hope dat day come soon. But if not, he'll wait. He'll wait as long as it take. And it be worth it." Remy said  
  
"Oh, Remy! Ah," Rogue stammered.  
  
"Sshhh, mah fine beauty. 'Nuff o' dat. Just know how much ah love you. Now, an' always. We'll get through dis, you an' me." Remy whispered.  
  
And as the two watched the sun sink into the horizon, they held each other, nuturing one another with their love, and Rogue's soul filled with  
new hope as darkness slowly started to fall  
******  
  
"It's 8:00!! Time for the game!!" Kurt shouted at the dinner table as he rose to his feet and kissed his wife on the cheek.  
  
"You men and sports." Kitty giggled.   
  
"And will this man's wife join him?" he asked with a pleading smile. Remy and Rogue were out to dinner, The Professor didn't care for sports, and  
while Scott loved to participate in a game, he would seldom watch one. And Logan? Well... "Please Katzchen!!I know you don't like basketball, but.."  
  
"Oh, baby! I'd climb a mountain for you! I'd give you my life!! But.." she laughed. "I hate Sports!! It's so boring to watch!! Besides, Jean, Betsy and I  
rented a movie, and we had plans to watch it in Jean's room. Sort of a girl thing, you know."  
  
"O.k. That's fine. But you better be in bed by 11:00! I have plans for you." He purred, nibbling her ear lobe.  
  
"Are they anything like the ones you had for me when I came home from shopping this afternoon?" she cooed to him, working her hand up his shirt.  
  
"Oh, yes." Kurt said, locking her lips into his.  
  
"I will certainly hurry back, then!!" As she rose to her feet, she smacked him playfully on his rear and retreated upstairs.  
  
"This has been a fun day indeed." Kurt smiled inwardly as he made his way to the recreation room.  
*********************  
  
As he opened the rec room doors, he noticed immediatley how cold it was. Naturally, since none of the x-men spend a great deal of  
time in here. He stumbled around in the darkness until he finally found the lightswitch.   
  
What he found waiting for him took him by surprise.  
  
Sitting there, on the floor in front of the sectional sofa, was a very large present. Wrapped in gold foil and tied with a large red  
ribbon, it stood nearly three feet high adn was every bit of five feet lling.  
  
"Oh, no." Kurt thought as he cautiously approached the gift. His eyes scanned the top. Attached to the large red bow was a white card,   
with the name "Kurt" scrawled on it in black ink.  
  
"Should I open it? I don't know if I should. It could be a trap. Arcade is bad for things like this." He pondered, taking the card with  
his name in his hand and looking over it carefully. There was no name anywhere telling the young blue mutant who the package was from.  
"Should I tell the others?" Kurt thought. "It certainly looks harmless enough."  
  
Through weighing out his options and looking over the package one last time, curiousity finally got the best of Kurt Wagner. He undid the   
ribbon, and carefully began to unpeel the gold foil from the gift, revealing a white box with its accompanying lid underneath.  
  
"I've come this far, no need to stop now." Kurt told himself as he carefully lifted the lid. He peeked slowly into it, a part of him expecting  
the worst.  
  
What was in the box was nothing of the sort. He beamed in delight as he pulled three large stuffed panda bears from the box, one by one. All three  
had large yellow bows around their necks, and tags shaped like hearts in their ears. Kurt smiled. "Who in the world did this wonderful thing?" He   
shouted in glee as he tossed one of the bears playfully in the air.  
  
"I didn't buy them for you, elf." came a husky voice from behind him. "There fer the little ones. But if ya want one that bad, I could probably see   
my way ta gettin' ya one." Kurt turned around, recognizing the voice. It had been a voice he hadn't heard speak to him in weeks. His heart shot into  
his throat with happiness. "Logan?" Kurt asked, a wide smile spreading on his face. "You did this? You bought these?"  
  
"No, I shoplifted them." Logan chuckled. "Of course, I bought 'em! Ya didn't think Uncle Logan wuz gonna let his little darlins' do without, did ya?"  
He stood there, waiting for Kurt's reaction.  
  
Kurt could feel the weight lift off his shoulders. He was so hoping that Logan would come around, and he did. "Logan, I don't know what to say! I...."  
  
"O.K. You don't, but I know what I have to say. Have a seat." Logan pointed to the sofa, and Kurt sat down. Logan proceeded to take the seat next to him.  
  
Logan gazed down at the floor for a second, his hands clapped together in thought. He finally took a deep breath. It never was easy to swallow his  
pride and admit he was wrong. But he wasn't stupid. He knew when to do it, and this was one of those times. He looked at Kurt, who was staring at him,  
waiting for him to speak.  
  
"Elf," Logan sighed, then continued. "Ya see, what I got ta say don't come easy fer me. Hell, it never did. But, I have trouble expressin' how I feel."  
  
Kurt stiffled back a laugh. This was suppose to be new to him? But he was all too familar with the fact that, even though Logan had a heart of gold,  
he always tried to bury it beneath a stoney mask. "I understand." Kurt answered.  
  
"Yeah, but, look. What I'm tryin' ta say is, when I found out about this, I was angry, sure. But I didn't tell ya why it made me angry." Logan said, sincerity  
in his rough features.  
  
"I assumed everything about this upset you." Kurt replyed.  
  
"No, not exactly. Ya see, Kurt.... Oh, Hell! I was mad because I was worried sick about ya!" Logan finally spat out.  
  
Kurt sat and looked at Logan with warm, caring eyes. He knew deep in his heart that there was more to Logan's anger than simply thinking this situation was   
unnatural. "Vas?" Kurt asked softly.  
  
"Kurt, in my life, I've lost so many people. So many that I loved with my heart and soul. Everytime I find someone that meant somethin' ta me in one way or  
another, and I told 'em so, I'd loose 'em." Logan looked Kurt in the eye, searching for the young man's reaction.  
  
"I lost Ororo and Jacob last year. I loved them with every fiber of my bein'. They meant so much ta me, like you and Kitty do."  
He looked back toward the ground, sorrow filling his voice. "What happens? They leave me? I wonder why everyone I love so much leaves me!"  
  
Kurt's heart slammed against his chest. This whole time, Logan had nothing but undying worry for him and these children. Kurt felt so ashamed. Anger was the  
only way Logan knew how to express it. If he buried himself in it, he wouldn't have to deal with it. "Logan?" Kurt asked.  
  
"Ya see, elf. I'm gonna shoot it to ya straight. Kitty's my punkin! I couldn't love her no more than if she were mine by blood. And you? God Kurt! Ye're the  
son I never had! I could've never hoped fer a kid better than you!" Logan said. Kurt knew that, for Logan, pouring his heart out like this was almost impossible.  
Yet, here he sat, putting everything out in the open. "I..." Kurt was at a loss for words.  
  
"See, I need to finish sayin' what I started ta say in the warroom the day we all found out about this. I stomped out before I could finish." Logan looked at  
Kurt in the eye. "Remember when I said if somethin' happened to you durin' this whole thing, and Kitty would loose her husband?"  
  
Kurt nodded. "Ja. And you said you would have lost something, but you neglected to tell us before you stormed out of the warroom. What was it?" Kurt asked,  
placing a supportive hand on Logan's shoulder.  
  
"Well, what I wanted ta say was, if somethin' happened ta you, Elf, then Kitty had lost her husband, and I would have lost my son." Logan rasped.  
  
Kurt looked affectionatley at the older man. For so long, he had looked to Logan as a big brother, a father figure. It was apparent that Logan saw it the same way.  
  
"Logan, the one thing that hurt me so bad about all of this was that, well, you are my father figure. I've always looked up to you, and all I wanted was your support."  
Kurt spoke.  
  
"Well, elf, ya got it! Ten times over!! Just promise me one thing..." Logan said, patting Kurt on the back.  
  
"Anything, Logan. Anything." Kurt smiled. He was so glad this was over, and he had his friend, his "Father" back.  
  
"If ya do anythin' stupid while yer in the family way, if ya don't take care of yerself like I think ya should be.." Logan popped his claws, a wicked but playful smile   
going across his face. "It'll be slice and dice!! Get it, bub?"  
  
Kurt laughed hysterically. "Yes sir!! What ever you say sir!!" Kurt turned on the television. "You know, your little darlings would certainly love to have their  
Uncle Logan watch the game with them and their father." Kurt said as he leaned back in his seat and folded his hands atop his stomach.  
  
"That's Grandpa Logan, and I wouldn't miss this game fer the world!" Logan said as he too leaned back in his seat.  
  
And there they sat, "Father" and "Son", watching the game and using the time to get to bond.-  
  



	13. the greatest gift of all

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL"S!! NOT MINE!! NO SUE!!  
  
Mistogirl, this one's for you!!  
  
Chapter 13 of Junior X  
The greatest gift of all  
  
  
Dec. 23, 2007  
  
Dear Diary,  
  
Well, Christmas is almost upon us again, and another year has passed. It's that special time of year. To decorate  
the trees, exchange gifts, be with loved ones, and discuss hopes for the new year. I have never looked more forward  
to turning the calendar as I do now. There is so much to look forward to, something Kurt and I have not been able  
to say in the longest time.  
  
As I look over the courtyard with dusk starting to paint the landscape, I watch as the lights in the trees all pop up  
one by one, blooming like winter flowers. I can hear the children as they sing their christmas carols, laughing with  
the joy and hope this season brings.  
  
As my eyes drift from the window, and I look toward the center of the desk in the Professor's study, I am reminded  
of the tragedy this season also brings. A grim token of it looms in the lamplight, sitting right in the middle of the cherry  
wood desk, mocking me with an evil aura that sends shivers up my spine and makes me question how someone could  
bear to do such a horrible thing to thier loved ones.   
  
I am talking, of course, about fruitcake. Yes, those tasteless bricks of dough filled with petrified, rock-hard fruit. Rayne  
sent each of us here one, which Kurt and I stored neatly in the trash can. Fortunately, the Professor seems to actually   
like these things! Yuk! Had we known, we would have gladly pawned ours off on him.  
  
Rogue and I placed our gifts under the tree last night. As I did so, I just happened to "inspect" the gifts with my name  
on them. Call it the kid in me, but I can't help but to let curiousity get the best of me. I couldn't tell much from shaking   
them, and I wanted to peel off just enough wrap to tell what lay beneath. I resisted the temptation, though, since it would  
have been too obvious.  
  
I know that Christmas is only two days away, but no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get into the holiday spirit! I  
blame the weather. It has been unseasonably warm. It feels like spring almost. I can clearly see that, unless something  
major changes in the weather, my wish for snow will go unanswered. If Ororo were here, she could make my wish come  
true. Ororo, how I miss you. There are so many times that I've needed your guidance, your wisdom, your motherly  
love. Hopefully, you are in heaven, watching over little Jacob for me. This time of year seems so empty without either of  
you.  
  
Logan has definitly taken a turnabout! He goes from being fuming mad at me and Kurt a few weeks ago to being the  
over-protective "Mother Hen" to Kurt. It's really cute, watching how Logan monitors every move Kurt makes. I am   
definitly greatful for his help! The two of them have been busy turning Scott's old room into a nursery for our new little  
additions! Of course, Logan and I won't let Kurt lift a finger, but we do let him "supervise".   
  
Betsy and Rogue decided to exchange rooms as well. Betsy liked the view of the courtyard that Rogue's room had,   
and Rogue loves the extra room that Betsy's old room provides. Yes, this holiday season has brought big changes   
in the x-mansion.  
  
And speaking of big changes, you should see Kurt! He is almost at the end of his fifth month, and boy, is he big! Bless  
his heart, he noticed that he has lost alot of his acrobatic balance. He went to perch on the top of the couch in the living  
room yesterday, and found that his growing belly won't allow him to do it anymore. He hasn't complained not one bit,  
though. If fact, he has taken alot of pride int he changes his body is going through. If he only knew how much love   
and pride I myself feel to watch our children growing inside him. I must say, I'm a little jealous, since this was suppose to  
be my job, but I know I'll get over it.  
  
Kurt has his monthly checkup today! And this one's going to take the cake! It's Kurt's first sonogram! YES!   
We'll actually be able to tell the sex of our babies! This is going to be so exciting! Kurt and I have already  
bought name book atop of name book. We want the perfect names for these little ones, so we've decided to  
take our time on that decision. We have four months, after all.  
  
Kurt and I are going Christmas caroling ourselves this evening. We're trying to talk Logan into going with us, but I doubt  
we'll be very successful. I love to see the neighbor's faces light up when we sing. What really annoys me deep down is   
the fact that, if they knew we were mutants, they would probably stone us out of their front yards! I'm skipping that   
thought. No need to be so bitter on Christmas, especially with all I have to be thankful for.  
  
Your friend,   
Kitty Wagner.  
  
***************  
  
"Verdamndt, that is cold, Hank!" Kurt winced as Hank rubbed the light blue goo on his stomach.  
  
Hank grinned. "I know! I'm sorry! If I didn't have to use this nasty junk, I wouldn't." Hank placed the goo's tube back on the   
small bench beside the examination table, where Kurt lay. He was slightly elevated, his shirt and jeans pulled away just enough to  
expose his round stomach. Kurt smiled as Kitty held his hand.  
  
"So, how is our little father today?" Hank asked.  
  
"Not so little anymore." Kurt chuckled in return.  
  
Hank gave a nod and a smile as he made the final adjustments to the ultra sound machine. He had waited months for this himself.  
As much as Hank trusted Jean's mindscans of the babies, his scientific mind craved concrete evidence. Soon, he would have it! He could  
see with his own eyes firsthand the success of the medical miracle that his hands performed. And, if this turned out to be the success  
it seemed to be, his findings would also help so many others who found themselves in the same position as the Wagners. Hank beamed at   
himself. Arrogant? No. A scientific genius. Perhaps. "I'll be with you in just a minute. This machine takes a while to warm up."  
Hank said, the anticipation and thrill of the upcoming sonogram evident in his voice.  
  
The same exact anticipation that Kurt and Kitty had themselves. Kitty sat next to Kurt, holding his hand and lovingly running her other  
hand through his long hair. And those eyes, filled with such love and hope. Kurt could see this in those soulful, dark amber eyes.   
Kitty was always saying those magic words to him. "I love you." This, however, was not her most effective way of expression of her   
love, nor was it necessary. She told him those words over and over again with every kiss, every longing glance, every smile, every  
touch or hug.   
  
"Kurt?" Kitty whispered to her husband. "I've been waiting for this for so long. To finally see them and...." Kitty was overcome with joy.  
She looked down at Kurt's belly, smeared with the nasty cold jelly Hank had applyed there. "Kurt, you and these babies, you are all my  
whole life. My reasons for living. I love all of you so much. And now, now we get to meet them! To see for ourselves if the're doing   
o.k." Kitty's face glowed with excitement and happiness.  
  
Kurt's golden eyes looked into his wife's, reflecting the same emotions. He always felt so loved, so needed by Kitty. He felt as though  
he were finally whole the day he told her he loved her. And now, the tear that was ripped in their souls by the death of their first son  
would be mended by the tiny lives they were bringing in the world. Kurt felt as though his heart would burst. "Surely," he thought to him  
self. " A man is not suppose to experience this much love. Mein Gott! My four little miracles! My beautiful wife! My precious children."  
Kurt smiled wide at this thought. He brushed Kitty's hair tenderly out of her face.  
  
"Oh, Kitty." He said, a rush of joy flooding him. "Did I ever tell you how fortunate I am to have you and these children? How much I love and  
need the four of you?"  
  
"Always." Kitty told him, tracing her finger along his jaw.  
  
"Well, I'm telling you again, so that you never forget." Kurt purred, gently kissing her on the lips.  
  
Hank cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt this intimate moment, but is is necessary that you lean back for this." Hank chuckled. "I am in   
serious doubt that can be done with you lips on hers."  
  
Kurt's face flushed slightly purple, a little embarrassed. He grinned and resumed to leaning back on the examination table.  
  
Hank flipped out the lights, and placed the sonogram probe on Kurt's stomach. The Wagners looked intently at the monitor, searching for an image  
of the babies.  
  
After moving the probe around for a few seconds, the images of three, tiny fetuses appeared on the screen. Kurt gasped in awe and Kitty slightly  
squealed in delight. Hank's own face reflected pure joy and satisfaction.  
  
"There they are! The little ones!" Hank was practically estatic. Just as ecstatic as the beaming parents. Relief and happiness immeasurable spread  
across Kurt's and Kitty's faces.  
  
"Kurt, you are doing excellent, my friend, and this sonogram proves it! These are the healthiest fetuses I have had the pleasure of looking at." Hank was  
so proud! His experiment had gone well.  
  
With this good news, Kurt nearly lept off the table in joy. "Thank you, Lord! Thank you for my children! Thank you for my wife!" Kurt shouted in his   
native german. Kitty was clapping her hands and tears of joy were in her eyes.   
  
"So, would you like to know thier sexes?" Hank questioned, beaming in pride.  
  
"Oh, God! Yes! We Do!" Kitty spoke   
  
"Ja! We need to find names for our little angels! We can't do that if we don't know!" Kurt's smile illuminated his face.  
  
Hank zoomed in on the image for a closer inspection. His smile only grew wider. "Well, Kurt. It does appear that all three fetuses have tails. That is going  
to make it slightly difficult to tell."  
  
Kurt's face turned stern. He looked back up at Hank. He didn't like the way Hank was referring to his children. "Hank."  
Kurt said. "My children are not fetuses!" He said with a slightly disgusted look on his face. "They are not merely tiny bits  
of tissue. They are our babies. Call them babies! Call them children! But never, ever call them, UGH!" Kurt closed his eyes and  
made a revolted expression. "Fetuses!"  
  
Hank laughed. "It's just a medical term, my friend! But, it you take such a dislike to the word, I won't refer to them as fetuses  
again." Hank grinned sheepishly.  
  
Kitty squealed yet again. "They all three have tails! The're gonna look just like my wonderful husband! Thank God!" She threw her arms around Kurt's neck,  
whose own eyes were flooded with happy tears. "Oh, Kurt! We're gonna have three little elves!"  
  
Kurt couldn't get over it! To think, the children he was carrying had his exact mutation! They were going to look just like him! His heart swelled with pride at  
the thought.  
  
"So, do you still want to know their sexes?" Hank asked, once again interrupting the two. "I think I've got a clear enough picture now."  
  
Kitty and Kurt fell quiet, awaiting Hank's answer. Hank smiled. "Looks like we've got two girls, and one boy! Congradulations! You two have hit  
the jackpot!" Hank announced joyously. "And all three of them are healthy and strong."  
  
"Oh, Mein Gott, Kitty!" Kurt sobbed as he hugged his wife tight. "Of all the Christmases I've had, there is no gift that can compare to this! The love  
I have for them, for you!" His lips now locked deeply into Kitty's.  
  
"Yes, sir." Hank grinned in satisfaction as he looked at the two lovers lost in each other's arms. "There could be no greater gift."  
  
***********  
  
Betsy Braddock loved the holidays. The snow. The decorations, the celebration. The gifts, both giving and recieving.  
  
She just hated being alone.  
  
Here she was, another year past. And still, she had no one. She sat alone in the rec room, carefully wrapping last minute gifts.  
A pair of pink flannel pajamas for Jean. A Cher CD for Kitty, and a very large tye dye Beatles shirt for Kurt. She rustled around the  
gifts and found the two pairs of jeans she had bought for Logan.  
  
Logan.  
  
She shook the name out of her head. Logan, with his steel blue eyes and strong muscular physique. She found herself thinking alot about  
him lately. He was so wild and adventurous, just as she herself was. They were kindred spirits, meant to be together. She shut her mind  
down with that thought.  
  
Betsy sighed and brushed her violet hair out from her eyes. Sure, she thought that she and Warren would last forever, too. But that ended,  
just as so many forevers for her had. "I ought to have a t-shirt." Betsy sighed. "That says, 'I dated Warren Worthington, and all I got  
was this lousy eyemark.' ". She snickered hopelessly to herself, referring to the mark of the crimson dawn she wore upon her face. To her,  
it was nothing more than a constant reminder of a love that could never be again.  
  
"Logan would never hurt me like this, would he?" She sighed again and resumed to wrapping her gifts.  
  
"That was a good one, elf! Scott looked just like the abominable snowman! HAW!" said a gruff voice down the hall. Betsy's eyes turned to  
the rec room door, as the hearty laughter came down the hall.  
  
"Logan." She thought to herself. Her heart was slamming, her palms were sweaty. She felt just like a teenager with a major crush. She  
quickly finished wrapping the last gift as Logan burst into the room.  
  
"HAW! HAW!" Logan was laughing so hard, his sides hurt. He looked toward the exotic asian beauty, her amethyst eyes questioning his laughter.  
  
"Boy, ya missed it, Betts!" Logan said. "Kurt covered Scott from head to toe in that canned snow crap!! Man! Was ol' redeye pissed!" He laughed  
again, almost unable to control himself.  
  
Betsy found herself giggling as well. Uptight, responsible Scott, covered in polyurethane white slime which was practically impossible to remove.  
It was a funny picture.  
  
Logan finally contained himself, and sat down on the sectional. He picked up the remote and turned on the T.V.   
  
Betsy began picking up the scraps of wrapping paper on the floor. She felt so nervous and self-concious around him. Did he ever notice her, the way  
she wanted him to? Oh, well.  
  
She stuffed the scraps into the trash can, and began walking toward the door. "Goodnight, Logan." Betsy said with a weak smile.  
  
"Hey, waitaminute!" Logan called after her. "Where ya goin'?"  
  
"To bed. There's not much else to do." She answered.  
  
"Well, why doncha stay an' watch this movie with me?" Logan said, those gorgeous eyes mesmerizing her.  
  
She looked at him, puzzled. "I thought you were going caroling with Kurt and Kitty?"  
  
Logan grinned sheepishly. "Well, I decided against it for two reasons. One, I ain't gotta set o' pipes like Kurt.  
Two, I didn't wanna miss this movie."  
  
"Oh? What movie?" She asked , raising an inquisitive eyebrow.  
  
"It's a Wonderful Life." Logan snorted. Betsy smiled. She would have never guessed the canadian as being a soft touch during  
the holidays. "I never thought it of you, Logan." Betsy smiled.  
  
"There's alot ya don't know about me, darlin. Now , do I have ta watch this alone, or is a certain, beautiful, purple-haired  
ninja gonna join me?" Logan asked, patting the seat next to him.  
  
Betsy smiled. She sat next to him, a bowl of popcorn wedged between them.  
  
As the movie started, Betsy noticed how Logan slowly placed his arm behind her. She could feel herself flush hot with   
intense emotion. About 15 minutes into the movie, his arm had pulled her to his chest, where she rested her head. Yes,  
she still felt like a silly teenager, but now she felt like a teenager on her first date.  
  
"Maybe this Christmas won't be so bad, after all." She thought to herself in contentment.  
  
**************  
  
It was well after 11:30 p.m. when Kurt and Kitty returned from caroling. The rest of the mansion had retired to bed, leaving  
the young couple to themselves.  
  
"Kitty, that was so fun!" Kurt said, brushing the snow out of his hair.  
  
"It certainly was! And I finally got my wish! SNOW!!" Kitty giggled as thyey walked throught the front door of the institute.  
  
"Kitty, when I'm with you, I feel so free, so alive." Kurt whispered to her, his lips advancing toward hers.  
  
"Oh,NO! Your not kissing me looking like that!" Kitty stuck her tongue playfully at him and walked away. She was referring,  
of course, to his image inducer. He looked just the same, save for caucasian skin and blue eyes. Kitty hated the tiny device,   
and couldn't stand when Kurt had to use it. " I want to kiss my beautiful blue husband, not some blue-eyed stranger!"  
  
Kurt smiled and flipped the switch on the box in his jacket pocket. The white skin melted away back to Kurt's normal features. Kitty  
smiled and proceeded to passionately kiss her husband. They were interrupted by a noise. Kurt's stomach was growling loudly. He laughed  
slightly.  
  
Kitty brushed his hair lovingly. "My poor Kurt! I would say all of that walking has made my little daddy hungry!" Kitty cooed to him  
tenderly. "C'mon, my angel, let's get some food down in you." She grabbed him by his hand gingerly and guided him to the Kitchen.  
  
"Now, you have a seat, and I'll get something for you and our little ones." She patted him on the back and proceeded to make Kurt two  
ham and cheese sandwiches with lettuce and tomatoe and and a tall glass of apple juice. "There! That should make mommy's babies happy."  
She said as she came around to the back of the chair where Kurt was seated and tenderly rubbed his large belly from behind.  
  
Kurt had no trouble putting away the food. He pushed the empty plate and glass back, patting his bulge in satisfaction. "These babies  
have the best mother in the world." Kurt smiled.  
  
Kitty wrapped her arms around her husband. "Do you want some more, sweetheart?" Kitty asked. "I'm sure ...."  
  
"Nein." Kurt raised Kitty's face to meet his gaze. Such love in his golden eyes. "I'm full, love. All I want now is to feel your arms  
around me, to be with you, to show you how much I love you, how much I need you." He locked his lips onto hers, the both of them deliciously  
high on the rush of emotion.  
  
When the kiss finally broke, Kitty stared lovingly into his eyes. "Oh, Kurt. You are the love of my life, the better half of my soul." Kitty  
hugged him again, burying her head into his chest.  
  
Without warning, Kurt clutched the side of his stomach, an expression of surprise and shock on his handsome blue face.  
  
Kitty felt her stomach hit the floor. "Oh, my God!! Kurt! Baby! What's wrong?! OH DEAR GOD!!" Kitty was panicking. She was so sure that Kurt  
was in some sort of pain, that something serious was wrong. "OH, GOD!! I'LL GET HANK!!" Kitty screamed as she tried to run from the Kitchen for  
help.  
  
Kurt grabbed her arm, and forced her to look at him. His initial expression of shock had faded into a wide, ecstatic smile. "Katzchen! Oh, mein leibling!  
Nein!" Kurt brushed her face, calming her hysteria. "There is nothing wrong, darling! In fact, everything is so right!" Kurt looked down at his stomach with  
affection and wide-eyed amazement. He was rubbing both sides of his large bulge with both hands in pride and awe. He looked back to his wife. "Kitty." Kurt  
said, intense joy flooding his voice. "They moved! They kicked! I felt it for the first time just now!"  
  
Kitty now was shocked herself, and a loving expression came over her face. "OH, KURT! Our little ones! They KICKED!! Oh, God! THIS IS WONDERFUL!!" Kitty was   
crying tears of joy now as she eagerly placed her hand on Kurt's belly to feel the babies' movements.  
  
Her eyes lit with amazement and love as she felt the triplet tumble and kick inside Kurt. She was at a loss for words. "Oh, Kurt!...Our babies!!"  
Kitty just sat there for the longest, felling the babies swim inside Kurt's stomach.  
  
They hugged each other tightly. "Oh, Kitty! As if today couldn't get any better!" Kurt wanted to shout from the rooftops. His happiness just couldn't be contained.  
  
And, as the Wagners made their way up the steps to bed, they both kept their hands on Kurt's belly, enjoying the early Christmas present they had been given.  



	14. revelations

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL"S!!! NOT MINE!! DIG?  
  
Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. What with money problems and writer's block.  
  
Chapter 14 of Junior X  
A Certain Mystique  
  
The wintery blitz that was pounding New York relentlessly this February was a far cry from the sunny, warm weather so typical of Dallas, Texas. In this area of the country, snowstorms were few and far between.  
While most people associated this time of year with bundling up in thick coats and snuggling next to a fire,  
people here were accustomed to wearing shorts, sunbathing, and watching the young tan beauties in thongs  
jogging up and down the sidewalk, much to the delight of the males whom shared the area.  
  
Not unlike one certain man driving down the road this afternoon. The former leader of X-factor and shaman known  
as Forge was not unlike any other hot-blooded man. He smiled slightly to himself as he watched two women, one  
blonde and one brunette, strutting prettily down the avenue, paying attention to the many eyes upon them. The   
Native-American mutant took his attention from them and focused back on the road ahead, keeping in mind the   
"mission" of sorts he had ahead of him.  
  
Two blocks down, he pulled in front of the Paradise Pub. It's weakly flickering neon sign of a palm tree telling him  
he had reached his destination. It was a run-down shack of a place, on an almost skid row side of town. This was an  
upper crust neighborhood once, and the dirty buildings looked as though they once had the proud appearance of the  
art-deco period.  
  
As he entered the bar, his brown eyes scanned each table. "She said she would be here." He thought to himself. He  
was nervous and edgy. They had been lovers once, after all. Truth to tell, he had never completely gotten over her,  
and found himself thinking of her from time to time.  
  
His eyes finally stopped at a small table in the back. Almost hidden in the shadows of the bar sat a native-american  
woman. Her coal-black hair decorated with feathers. In tight jeans and plain white t-shirt, her eyes stayed transfixed   
on the table in front of her. If Forge hadn't known better, he would say this lovely young woman was quite the shrinking  
violet.  
  
But that was just it. He knew all too well that this was just a part of her rouse.  
  
He made his way to the table, his eyes wandering over the other patrons as he finally brought himself to the girl's attention.  
  
As the girl looked up into Forge's eyes, he silently took the seat in front of her.  
  
"It's been a long time, Raven. " Forge whispered.   
  
A sly smile played across her brown lips. She arched one black eyebrow as she confirmed her identity to him.  
  
"My dear Forge. I knew you could see through me. But you always could, couldn't you?" Her eyes looked sadly  
down back to the draft mug of beer in front of her. She traced the edge with one long finger.  
  
Forge was almost taken aback with what he saw. Raven Darkholme, a.k.a. Mystique. Former international spy,  
turned cold, cruel madwoman. Seemingly with no emotion whatsoever. Not a care in the world for whom she hurt,  
or killed, for that matter. So long as it was self-serving and fulfillled her purposes.  
  
That wasn't the same woman that sat in front of him at this moment. The native american traits she had chosen as her  
disguise reflected sadness and all-consuming worry. As she looked back up at him, her eyes were filled with   
grief and pain.  
  
And tears?  
  
Forge's heart suddenly dropped. What could have possibly brought the almighty Raven Darkholme to this point?  
  
"I....." Raven choked back a sob. "God, I hate this!! I hate being weak!! I hate being scared!! I was never either, Forge!!  
You know that!!" She was dissolved in tears now. She turned away, burying her head in her hands in shame.  
  
Forge gently reached for Raven's shoulders. He loved her once. He still did. "Raven, God!! What happened?! Why did  
you call me here? Please, Raven." She was looking him in the face now. " I cannot help if you do not tell me,"  
  
Raven's eyes softened and a sad smile spread across her face. She took a deep breath, trying to gather enough courage  
to go through with this. Finally, she spoke. "Yes, Shaman. I do need your help. If you still care enough for me to give it."  
  
Forge cradled Raven in his arms. "I never stopped caring, Raven." He reassured. "Now, tell me. What can I do? Name  
it, and I will do all in my power for you." He lifted her head and gazed into her eyes.  
  
"Yes, I will tell you everything. I will tell everyone everything. But not here. I can't here." Raven looked around her.  
  
"That is not a problem. I agree. This is definitley not the place to be airing out your dirty laundry. " Forge rose to his   
feet, motioning to Raven. "I'll take you back to my headquarters. You'll be safe there. We'll have privacy there." He  
gently brushed her cheek. Even as desperate as she was for help, whe still had her trademark mysteriousness cloaking  
her.  
  
She smiled, leaving the money for her drink on the table. She looked so fragile, so vunerable.  
  
"Thank you, Forge. " She said sincerely.  
  
As they drove out of the seedy neighborhood, Forge looked over at Raven, still in her Indian princess cover, and smiled.  
  
"There is no need for cover-ups here. " He told her. "You know, you can just be yourself."  
  
Raven smiled weakly, allowing herself to melt back into her blue-skinned, red-haired form. Even like this, she looked so  
needy, so helpless.  
  
After a long silence, Forge finally cleared his throat. "Raven." he started. "Can you tell me what this is all about?"  
  
Raven sighed, her golden eyes looking toward him. As tears again streamed down her blue cheeks, she rasped. "It's time  
that I come clean, Forge. Put right everything I have done wrong. Or at least try." Raven trailed, looking nervously at  
the road ahead.  
  
Forge's eyes widened. "Raven? Did I hear you right?"  
  
Raven looked back to Forge. He could tell from the fear in her voice and the expression on her face that this was not the  
old Raven. The one he was used to lying , cheating, and conning her way through things. There was nothing but sincerity  
as she whispered her quest to him.  
  
"Let's just say," Raven said, " That I am a lost soul trying to find redemption. Trying to find her way home again."  
  
****************  
  
"I must say, my friend." Hank beamed in sheer pride and excitement as he listened to Kurt's belly through his stethoscope.  
"Yours happens to be the healthiest pregnancy I have had the pleasure of attending, male or female." Hank laughed as he  
rolled up the stethoscope and gingerly lowered Kurt's shirt back down over his stomach.  
  
"Danke Gott." Kurt smiled as he looked down at his stomach and rubbed it proudly. He sat on the edge of the examination  
table, legs dangling over the side. Each passing checkup was a relief to the Wagners. There was so many unknowns about  
this procedure. But so far, Kurt was sure that God was watching over him and his children.  
  
Kitty hugged Kurt, her arms wrapped around his large, bulging stomach. Kurt was well into his seventh month, and hugging  
him was getting more difficult to do these days. But she loved it. She knew the bigger Kurt grew, the better the babies  
were doing.   
  
Hank pushed his glasses back up on his nose and began to scribble in Kurt's records. He looked back up at the young man.  
Kurt looked rather pale and tired to him. But, considering that Kurt had three children bogging him down, it was clearly  
understandable.  
  
"How do you generally feel, Kurt?" Hank asked, patting Kurt's bulge. Everyone around him had made that a nasty habit lately.  
It made him happy, knowing his family loved these children and looked forward to their birth as much as he and Kitty did.  
  
Kurt sighed, and then smiled. "Well, it's like this. I am back and forth to the bathroom. I can't seem to eat enough.   
My entire body aches from lugging this extra weight around, not to mention I feel like I'm sleeping with a twenty pound   
sack of potatoes in my pants at night. I'm as big as a house...." Kurt smiled as one of the babies kicked hard inside him.  
He rubbed his belly. "Oops. I think I awoke one of the tendants downstairs." He chuckled. Kitty began rubbing his belly  
soothingly. He looked back at Hank. "You know what, though?"  
  
"That is?" Hank asked.  
  
"I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. For my children, for my babies, these minor discomforts are such a small price to  
pay. It's worth every bit." He smiled.  
  
"Indeed, my friend, Indeed!!" Hank wholeheartedly agreed.  
  
"Well, don't you worry, my precious elf. You and these babies have me at your every beck and call. Just think of me as your personal  
genie. Yours for the asking." Kitty said sweetly, resting her head in his chest.  
  
After their hug broke, Kurt proceeded to stretch, looking back down at his belly. He chuckled yet again, and looked to Kitty. "I still  
don't know how you women do it!! I mean, after all, carrying these three around is harder than it looks." He grinned as he gingerly eased'  
off the edge of the examination table and back onto his feet. He groaned as he began massaging his lower back and looked up to the ceiling.  
"Oh, my aching back!" He moaned to himself. He looked back to Kitty, grinning tiredly.  
  
"Hang in there, Dad." Hank reassured. "After all, you only have two more months left to go."  
  
"Ja. That will definitley be a load off." Kurt laughed at the irony. "No pun intended."  
  
Kitty smiled broadly and nodded her head in agreement. "Oh, I can't wait!" She giggled as she took a good look at her husband. He was so   
happy, that much she could tell. But she took in his physical appearance as well. Bless his heart. Kurt appeared pale, and had slight bags  
under his eyes. His face was unshaven. She looked back to his belly. It was swollen so big. " Only in his seventh month, and he's already  
big enough to be in his ninth." Kitty thought to herself . Of course, carrying three babies instead of one would do that to a person.  
  
Kitty looked into Kurt's eyes, gingerly brushing his hair out of his face. "You really look like you could use a nap, Sweetheart." Kitty cooed  
to him.  
  
Kurt yawned again. Between his late night cravings and the triplets doing gymnastics inside him just when he would start to fall asleep, there  
was little time for rest.  
  
"Tell me, Kurt," Hank asked. "How are you sleeping?"  
  
Kurt sighed again, then smiled. "Well, I was sleeping well last night. That is, until the babies decided to have a little soccer game around   
2:30 this morning. I have been awake ever since." Kurt said.  
  
"Well, that is understandable. I suggest a body pillow." Hank stated. "The utmost comfort is needed for someone in your condition."  
  
Kurt nodded, slightly annoyed. He couldn't help himself. He was exhausted. "Ja,ja. I will do as Kitty says and take a nap. I would like to get  
off my feet for a while anyway." Kurt said as he gathered Kitty in his arms.  
  
"Oh, yes. Have you been practicing your breathing, Kurt?" Hank asked further.   
  
Kurt smiled. Kitty answered before he had the chance. "Oh, yes!! I have bought every lamaze tape I could lay my hands on!! Kurt and I have  
been watching them together for the past couple of weeks!! I'm going to be his coach!!" Kitty said. " This is going to be as easy as I can possibly  
make it for Kurt." Kitty said as she patted Kurt on the back reassuredly.  
  
"That's terrific!! I suppose I should explain the actual birth process in this whole matter to the both of you. Now is as good a time as any."  
Hank said. "Please Kurt, have a seat."  
  
Kurt sat in the chair Hank offered him. He grinned nervously and swallowed hard. He would go through the depths of hell for these children. Indeed,  
he knew it was going to feel something like that when the time came. Hank had explained the entire procedure from start to finish to both Kurt and Kitty  
when he first learned of this procedure. Kurt knew that there was going to be a considerable amount of pain involved in bringing these children into  
the world. Hank told him so seven months ago before even agreeing to this experiment. Yet, it seemed so far away at the time. He had put the little fact  
of the excruciating priming contractions of the orb in the back of his mind. Yet, here he was, seven months pregnant, and his due date was drawing closer.  
All the horror stories he had ignored were now becoming more of a concern to him. He now knew all too well the fear women went through expecting their children.  
Kurt looked up at Hank awaiting the explanation of the birth.  
  
Kurt was scared to death.  
  
No less fearful was his wife, Kitty. This had been such a miraculous, wonderful time for the both of them. Being a medical first both excited and amazed Kitty.  
This procedure was a gift from God. An answer to the both of their prayers. Watching their babies grow with each passing month inside her husband caused Kitty to  
feel a love she didn't know existed. Yet, she wanted this whole ordeal over and done with. As much, if not more so, than Kurt himself did. Not only to be able  
to finally hold her children in her arms, but it would all be over with, and her children and husband all four would be safe.  
  
"Now, Kurt." Hank said, kneeling beside him. He gingerly lifted Kurt's shirt again. "After the orb has reached its strongest contractions, I will cut an incision  
approximatly four inches long right beneath your navel." Hank began to trace where the incision would be with a pencil right underneath Kurt's bellybutton, which had  
turned from an innie to an outie. "I will then proceed to slice a corresponding incision into the orb's wall. The diamond-hard techno-organic wall of the orb should  
be soft at this point. You will actually be able to push with the orb's final birthing contractions, and your children will slip into the world through the incision."  
Hank explained.  
  
Kurt nodded. "I understand completely." Kurt reassured Hank, trying not to let his fear show.  
  
"Uh, Kurt." Hank gazed into Kurt's eyes, wanting him to fully understand what he had to say next. "You do know that painkilling drugs have no affect on the orb, don't you?"  
  
Kurt took a deep breath . Yes, he remembered something about that too in Hank's initial explanation of this procedure. But he was too  
excited to care. It didn't change how he and Kitty felt about it. Through all of the stories Hank had told him, all Kurt could see was the opportunity to finally have  
the child that he and Kitty so desperately wanted. Still, Kurt was no fan of pain. While he did have a rather high pain threshold, he wasn't sure anything could  
fully prepare him for what he was going to go through. This pain was going to be well worth it all, that much he was sure of.   
  
Still, he couldn't help being afraid.  
  
"Ja, I remember. But, as they say, no pain, no gain." Kurt smiled, rising to his feet. Kitty took his hand.  
  
"Now, if you'll excuse us, Hank," Kitty said tenderly, " I need to get my pregnant husband to bed. He's going to need all the rest he can get."  
  
As they walked up the stairs to their bedroom, Kitty began to think of all the suffering Kurt was going to go through. She remembered her labor with  
Jacob, but she also recieved an epidural. She didn't really feel a thing. Her poor husband was going to go through sheer agony. and there was nothing that could  
be done for it, except her support and soothing words.  
  
"And I'll be there every step of the way, Fuzzy, that you can count on." Kitty thought to herself with pure love for Kurt and her children filling her heart.  
  
****************  
  
After two pots of coffee and four hours of explanation and revelations, Forge sat in disbelief.  
  
"Raven, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Why?" Forge asked, searching her face for an answer.  
  
Raven looked down at the table in front of her, shame in her face. "I..." She was crying again. "I  
couldn't. I didn't want to be weak. Call it pride. I've never needed anyone, Forge, and I never want to need  
them." She looked back up at him. "Besides, what could you have done? I'm dying! Whether I told you six months  
ago or told you just now, it doesn't change things!! I already had advanced leaukemia when the doctor found it."  
  
Forge looked sadly at the coffee cup in front of him. She had spilled everything, right down to the last detail.  
Questions everyone had asked for so many years concerning Raven Darkholme had been answered just then and there.   
It was almost too much for his mind to process. Her true name. Her true age. Who her parents were and her   
childhood. Where she was from. Everything about her past was layed in front of him. Things he suspected,  
things he would have never dreamed of. "Why did you wait so long, Raven?" Forge asked.  
  
Raven was nearly insulted by the question. "For God's sake, Shaman!! What do I have to loose now!!"  
She ran her hands through her vibrant red hair. She looked back up at Forge. "So, will you help me or not?"  
  
Forge nodded. "Of course, I will help you. You know that." Forge grabbed her hand in a comforting gesture. He couldn't  
help but consider what might have been. Especially if he knew then what he knew now. With these facts layed forth, she   
didn't seem to be half the bitch she had let on.  
  
"I have so much to fix. So much wrong that I have to put right. Especially with my children. They are my top priority.  
Moreso Kurt, considering his situation." She said quietly.  
  
"That reminds me, just how did you learn of Kurt's, ur, condition?" Forge asked.  
  
Raven laughed. "Wake up Forge!! I'm a shapeshifter!! I can infiltrate places you have only dreamed!! I can literally become  
the fly on the wall!! Keeping track of my estranged offspring have been one of the easiest tasks I have accomplished over the years."  
She took a deep breath. "And now, it's time. Time to tell them all, to come completely clean." She was tearing up once more.  
  
"You do realize," Forge interrupted, "That this will change everything, everyone's lives once you tell them what you told me?"  
Forge asked, his eyes questioning her.  
  
Raven nodded. "Yes, hopefully for the better. I have to put my son's mind at ease. My poor Kurt." Raven was now crying in her   
folded arms. "All these years, thinking I didn't love him, didn't want him. And nothing could be further from the truth. I had   
to lie to him!! To protect him!! It kept him from asking too many questions."  
  
Forge shook his head. "Well, I hope you are right. At least, Kurt will have a true heritage. A legacy."  
  
Raven nodded and smiled.  
  
"I have already booked our flight to Westchester, New York." Forge said. "We leave in the morning. The Professor knows we  
are coming, so hopefully he will break the ice with Kurt and the others for us. Until then..." Forge looked at Raven. "Get some  
rest."  
  
Raven nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. From the same eyes her son had. "Yes, Thank you, Forge, more than you will ever know.  
If I live long enough, hopefully I can make amends with you, as well." Raven said gratefully.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	15. family secrets

Disclaimer: ALL MARVEL'S!! NOT MINE!! eh, you know the drill.  
  
  
  
I just want to take a few moments to ask you all to remember those whom died in this nation's greatest tragedy last week. Truly, we will never get over this. I hope that you and yours are safe. Together, we will get through this horrible nightmare.  
  
  
As to all my fans whom have asked about this story, I say thank you and that I could not have done this without your inspiration and wonderful praise. Especially to Mistogirl and Shadow. This chapter is dedicated to you. I am sorry it has took so long for me to get on the stick, but my health took a turn for the worst this summer. I am seeing daylight, though. I promise to start cranking these chapters out like hotcakes!!  
  
And now, on with our story.  
  
Chapter 16 of Junior X  
Times change  
  
  
  
The sharp german winter wind howled as the young girl ran. Through the thick black forest. Wolves could be heard in the distance.  
Heard, but not seen. The december night so black, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. This only served to add to the  
child's fear. But the wolves were not her persuers. In fact, she served as prey to another group of predators. As food to feed their  
own fears and prejudices.   
  
And they were fastly ganging up upon her.  
  
The child stumbled, the cold mud covering her once colorful peasant dress. The one her mother so diligently sewed with her own lovely  
long hands for her. Now covered in tears and her own blood, she screamed as the light from the torches they carried heralded their arrival.  
  
"I've found it!!" Shouted her father. "I found the blue demon who killed my Raven!!"   
  
The child screamed. "NO DADDY !! NOOOOOO!!!!!!"  
  
"Kill the monster!! Slit it's throat!! Bleed it like the animal it is!!" another blood-curtling shout came from the middle of the mob, only to be agreed upon  
by the rest.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"  
  
And with that scene, Raven Darkholme awoke.  
  
She panicked, her now alabaster forhead streaked with sweat. She immediatley began to take in her surroundings. Not a dark forest, like her nightmare.  
Just the cool, soothing white of the inside of the plane. She glanced to her right, to see Forge asleep in the seat next to her. The passenger seated in front  
of her, a businessman in his late 50's, looked at her in concern, and motioned a stewardess to check on her.  
  
A tall, slender brunette with crooked nose and air attendant's uniform walked toward her seat. She smiled politely.  
"Is everything O.K., Maam?"  
  
Raven just looked at her for a long moment, like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. After her mind separated the dream from reality, she found her   
voice. "Yes. Yes, just fine, thank you." Raven smiled wanely and began to shrug off the incident.  
  
The stewardess smiled yet again, and added, "Well, if there is anything I can do, please let me know."  
Raven nodded in aknowledgement, and the brunette attended to the other passengers.  
  
Raven sighed, doing her best to hold back the hot tears welling in her eyes. Of all the things she had ever done in her life, this was definitely the hardest.  
She felt like a damned soul, with no repentance to her. And she felt her feelings were right. She leaned back into her seat, watching her native american companion  
slightly twitch with his own dreams.  
  
"Sleep well, Shaman, and please, dream a little dream for me. I have none left." she whispered to herself as a tear gently slipped down her cheek.  
  
*********************************  
  
"YOU DID WHAT!!!" was all the angry young woman could spit out at her mentor.  
  
Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-men, leader of the dream, "Father" to all of them, only looked down at his hands, folded neatly upon his desk.  
Across the desk, a very pregnant Kurt Wagner sat, only silence coming from him as he looked on at his wife's reaction to the Professor's and his decision.  
  
"Kitty, if you will just allow Kurt and I to finish explaining..."  
  
"NO!! THERE IS NO EXPLANATION FOR THIS!! HOW DARE YOU!! INVITE THAT...THAT..... MONSTER INTO OUR HOME!! AND YOU KURT!! AFTER ALL  
SHE HAS DONE TO US!! TO YOU!! NO!! ARE YOU BOTH OUT OF YOUR MINDS!!???" Kitty's anger was causing her brown eyes to fill with tears.   
  
"Leibling, please, if you will just let me......"  
  
"NO!!!! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR A THING SHE HAS TO SAY!! I DON'T WANT THAT BITCH AROUND YOU!! AROUND OUR CHILDREN!!"  
Kitty's rage was firey hot. Kurt only looked at her, a rather sad look upon his handsome face.  
  
Kurt loved Kitty dearly. But he knew as well as anyone that when she felt strongly about something, she was hot tempered as hell. He sighed deeply and leaned  
back into the chair he was sitting in earlier. He was torn between his love for Kitty and the fact that his current condition put him in no mood to argue with her. He  
placed his head in his hands from exhausted aggravation and took a deep breath.   
  
"Kitty, please listen." Kurt stated calmly. "Forge told the Professor over the phone that what she had to say concerned me in a very big way. Many questions  
I have asked all my life may finally be answered. You know that Forge and the Professor would never do anything to harm us, don't you?" Kurt looked up at her  
searching her face for an expression of what her answer might be.  
  
Kitty's face finally turned a lighter shade of red. A good sign that her initial anger at this situation had passed, at least, and may be now open to reason. Kitty took  
a deep breath and slumped back into the chair beside Kurt, weeping in her hands.  
  
"No. I know. But....." She trailed off, tears of outrage still in her eyes as she looked to her husband. "Kurt, Mystique is a known madwoman. She has never told the  
truth before. She's up to something, I know it!!" Her eyes looked so intense. "Why would she now, Kurt? What if she is setting a trap?" Kitty wrapped her arms around  
Kurt, and placed her head on his bulging belly. "You and these children are my whole life!! I failed once!! I won't again!!" She mumbled, weeping into Kurt's belly and at the   
same time lovingly rubbing it with one free hand.   
  
As Kurt smiled down at his wife, he wrapped her in his arms. His soulmate. The love of his life. He knew all too well that Kitty's love for her family was what fueled her anger.  
"And you know that you and these children are mine. That's why I must talk to Mystique. For our sake. For their's" Kurt smiled down at Kitty and then down at his belly.  
"I want these children to have a legacy. To know about their family. Like I said, I too will have answers to many mysteries of my life, but this way, my children will  
have their heritage lined out. Who I am is also who these children are. "  
  
The Professor smiled. To see these two with their undying love for each other, a love that had withstood many tests and heartaches, it gave him renewed hope in his dream, and  
showed him what his dream could acheive. "Kitty," the Professor said lovingly, " You don't have to worry about Mystique's possible manipulations. I am a telepath, remember?"  
He chuckled, trying to lightened up the somber mood of the den. " I am your personal lie detector."  
  
Kitty smiled, and then back at Kurt. She walked behind the desk, and gave the Professor a hug. "Oh, God!! I'm so sorry, Professor!! I didn't mean... to blow up like that...but..."  
  
The Professor gratefully returned Kitty's hug, his usual warm smile spreading across his face. "You do not have to explain anything to me, child. You were just trying to protect  
your family. I expect nothing less from you."  
  
Kitty looked back to Kurt, returning her arms around him. "O.K., I understand, Fuzzy, but remember one thing.  
  
Kurt laughed. "Oh? And that is?"  
  
"That we go through this together, just like everything else." Kitty smiled  
  
Kurt nodded wholeheartedly in agreement.  
*******************  
  
The New York snow stung Raven's skin as she walked off the plane hand -in-hand with Forge.  
  
She was in the disguise of a supermodel type. California tan and platinum blonde. She noticed how many of the young men's jaws dropped as they made their  
way to pick up their bags and head for their rental car.  
  
"If they knew my true form, their jaws would drop for an entirely different reason." She whispered to Forge as they loaded their suitcases into the car trunk.  
  
Forge laughed. "Oh? Actually, I prefer the real you." he stated quite seriously as they got into the car.  
  
As they pulled out of the airport, Forge placed one comforting arm around Raven's shoulders. "That's the first time you've spoken to me since we left Dallas.  
Is there something else you would like to tell me?"  
  
Raven's eyes turned away to the road ahead of her. Pulling her brown leather jacket tighter around herself, she finally answered Forge's question. "No, I've   
told you everything. But it's just that...." she trailed off, looking at the native american man in the eye. "I have nothing left to loose now, Forge. My time on this  
miserable planet is now ticking fastly away. GOD!!!" She sobbed, loosing control once again. "Why couldn't things have been different?"  
  
Forge looked sadly back to pay attention to the road in front of him. Truth to tell, he had no answer for her. Sadness rippled throughout his features. Tears began to form  
in his own brown eyes. For Raven. For himself. For time lost. For regret at not trying harder to make things work with Raven. And now, with the candle of Raven's life now burning it's  
last in the cruel wind of death, he allowed his mind to drift and wondered what could have been. He shook his head. Too late for a new beginning, but he was here for her now.  
  
And he still loved her. Never stopped loving her.  
  
Raven wasn't scared of dying. Far from it. He knew her true fear. With nothing left to loose, she finally realized she wanted to put right what once went wrong. And fate had given her so little time to do so.  
Forge had no answer for her. He looked back at Raven, his mind searching for the right thing to say. " I will not lye to you, Raven. I never have. We all choose our own destinies, our own roads. Looking back,  
we all wished there were times we had made the other decision. But I've learned that we can't take back what we have done. We can only move on and hope that we can repair some of the damage. In your case, what  
you're about to do will put Kurt's mind at ease. and will leave him with the knowledge that his mother truly loved him, even after you're gone."  
  
Raven smiled. She loved Forge once, she still did. But she turned away from him, shut him out like so many other of her loved ones. Yet another mistake in her long resume of fuck-ups.  
"Forge?" she asked. "Do you think what I'm about to reveal to Kurt will truly make a difference?"  
  
Forge sighed. "If we were talking about the Kurt of five years ago, I would be pressed to say no. But, with everything that has happened and that he has been through lately, nothing has been more important to him  
than family. Estranged as they may be, in your case. The secret you hold will change everything for Kurt and his father, Raven. Some for the better, some for the worst. Only time will tell."  
  
Raven nodded. She had always been so proud of Kurt. He had grown into a beautiful young man. How she loved and worried for her son from a distance all these years. "You know, Forge," She beamed  
proudly. "There must have been some good in me once. That's the only way that I can explain how I was blessed with an angel like Kurt."  
  
**********************  
  
Henry McCoy was rarely seen outside his lab. This wasn't unusual for the nobel prize winning scientist. But he practically lived there of late.  
  
Of course, not that Dr. McCoy was one to complain. He had his love for science. For medicine. For twinkies! For cookies!! For...  
  
"Hank? Where is the microwave in this joint?"  
  
Hank snapped his neck around at the beautiful feminine voice. Oh, did he mention his unrequited love for one certain Dr. Cecilia Reyes?  
Cecilia didn't even have the faintest clue. She assumed his interest in her was professional only. "Oh, if you only knew, my dreadlocked angel."  
Hank thought to himself. "And if I have it my way, you never will." Hank blushed. He could feel his pulse hammer and his palms sweat just hearing the melody that was her voice. "Of course, my dear, next to the   
fridge."  
  
Cecilia smacked herself on the head. "DUH!! If it were a snake, it would have bit me. Are you sure you want such a dimwit to help you attend Kurt's  
pregnancy?"  
  
Hank frowned. "I would have it no other way!! AND STOP CALLING YOURSELF A DIMWIT!!" Hank half-jokingly, half seriously scolded her.  
He was awarded with an angelic smile.  
  
"You say the sweetest things. I swear, if I didn't know any better...." She smiled mischeviously, "I would say you were in love with me."  
  
Hank felt his heart drop in his stomach. The skin under his fur was burning scarlett, he just knew it. How did she know? Did Jean or the Professor   
scan his mind and tell her? HE NEVER TOLD ANYONE!!  
  
Hank stammered as he dropped a beaker nervously. As it shattered, he looked back into Cecilia's eyes. "Well, I , ah, that is to say, uh.....What ever gave you  
that notion? Who told you?" He sputtered as he proceeded to sweep up the shattered glass.  
  
Cecilia laughed in surprise. "Easy, Hank!! I was just kidding!!" She bent down to help him with the mess.  
  
"Ah, yes, well." Hank said, then finally gained his composure. "I wasn't."  
  
"What?" Cecilia replied.  
  
"Well, maybe I should show you." Hank couldn't believe he was doing this. But the cat was out of the bag now. A strong blue furry cat whom was lovesick   
for a certain hispanic beauty. He grabbed her face in both hands and gave her rather lengthy kiss.  
  
After the kiss broke, Cecilia continued to look into Hank's eyes. "If you were afraid I wouldn't return your feelings, you were absolutely wrong, Mr. McCoy.  
I feel the same way." She smiled as she returned his kiss.  
  
"Oh, Cece. Iwaited so long. So long to tell you, but I was afraid."  
  
"I understand. And we'll talk about this. Later. Right now, we need to finish the task at hand." She smiled sweetly.  
  
"Oh, yes!! Kurt's most recent tests!!" Hank laughed, a load having been lifted off his shoulders. And she loved him, too!! It was almost more happiness than  
he could bear!!  
  
Cecilia quickly switched back to professional mode. "I ran the necessary panels on Kurt's blood. That chico's bloodwork is better than mine."  
she couldn't help but allow a schoolgirl giggle escape her lips.  
  
It was shear music to the man who loved her.  
  
Hank happily began to run Kurt's latest EKG through the scanner. He was floating on air. This had to be a dream, He thought to himself as his  
eyes examined the graph in front of him.  
  
And that's when Hank McCoy was crashed down off his love-induced high.  
  
Hank could feel the heart that was swollen with excitement just a moment ago burst and sink down into his stomach. His face reflected the dread  
his mind was trying to process.  
  
Seeing Hank's look of horror, Cecilia quickly rushed to the screen. "Hank? What is it? Is something wrong with Kurt?"  
  
Hank looked sadly at Cecilia, panic in his voice. "It's Kurt's latest EKG. Oh, God." Hank shook his head.  
  
"Well, what is it?! TELL ME!!" Cecilia shouted.  
  
Hank looked dismally up at the woman, fear creeping into her own beautiful features. "There's an irregularity in the graph. The pregnancy is  
putting an undue strain on his heart." Hank looked blankly, fear and worry for his friend racing through his mind.  
  
"No, No." Cecilia said to herself. "That would explain why he's so tired all the time. But I thought it was a normal symptom of the pregnancy!!"  
Her eyes began to water.  
  
Hank 's mind switched quickly to doctor mode. "There is one good thing. It doesn't seem to be affecting him in any serious sort of way. We just  
have to watch him close, that's all."  
  
"We should tell him!! As soon as possible!" Cecilia panicked.  
  
"NO!" Hank shouted. "There's no need just yet!! Don't you see? He and Kitty have enough to worry about without this! Just knowing would  
put even more stress on his already fragile state!"  
  
Cecilia nodded her head. "Yes. You are right. But...."  
  
"Don't worry, Cece. We're two of the best. We have Shiar technology at our disposal. We will get Kurt through this." He took Cecilia in his arms,  
rocking her back and forth. One thing about Cecilia, she had the heart and determination for her patients that many doctors overlooked in the search  
for money.  
  
"Kurt will get through this." Hank thought to himself.   
"He has to. I've come to far to fail."  
**********************  
  
Kurt had went over in his mind over and over how he would face Mystique when she arrived. He went over his reaction, what he would say, his  
determination not to let anything about the woman get to him.  
  
Yet none of this prepared him for the actual meeting,  
  
As he and Kitty walked into the den, there she sat, he golden eyes glowing eerily in the dimlit room. Seated next to her was Forge and the Professor   
on the other side.  
  
Kurt took a deep breath. He did his best to surpress the anger and pain that tore at his heart every time he looked at this woman. His birth mother.  
The woman whom threw him away like a sack of unwanted kittens into a waterfall. Left him for dead. Never looked for him. He could now fully understand  
Kitty's anger from earlier in the day.  
  
"I will not let her get to me. No matter what she says or what she has done or will do, if I become upset and angry, she has truly won." Kurt thought to himself  
as he and Kitty assummed their seats on the queen anne style sofa on the other end of the den. As he sat, the babies shuffled inside of him, and he now focused  
on his reason for even polluting his air with Mystique's in the first place.  
  
Kitty had kept silent, and she looked to her husband. "Kurt?" She whispered. "Baby, are you sure you want to do this?"  
  
Kurt looked into his wife's eyes, a determination that had never been there before. "Ja. Nothing could make me change my mind."  
  
Forge looked around him. "I suppose the gang's all here." He said. "I suppose this is my cue to exit." He rose from his chair, then proceeded to   
leave the den.  
  
Kurt looked to Raven. His expression toward her softened just a bit. Her blue face, the same blue as his fur, was haggard. She looked so fragile, and  
Kurt couldn't help but at that moment to feel some sympathy for her.  
  
Raven looked up at her son, a sorrow in her eyes that was never known of her to have before. "Hello, son." she smiled weakly.  
  
Kurt was taken aback at what she had said. He composed himself and looked her up and down. "Yes, Raven, I suppose there is something you  
said you wanted to tell me?"  
  
"Yes." She rasped.  
  
"Then don't waste my time. What is it? What could be so important that you just had to talk to the son you never wanted?" Kurt said sarcastically.  
He bit his tongue. He promised himself that she wouldn't get to him like this. He took a deep breath, and continued. "Are you finally going to answer my questions?"  
  
Raven broke into tears, nodding her head. Kurt didn't know what to make of it. He sighed, loosing patience again.   
  
"Look, if you came here to cry and find sympathy from us," Kitty chimed in, "Then you looked in the wrong place!! You didn't shed any tears for anyone's life you  
took!! You didn't shed a tear for my husband when you threw him away!!"  
  
"IT'S NOT TRUE!!!" Raven screamed.  
  
"Was?" Kurt asked as the others fell silent.  
  
Raven heaved and sobbed, finally finding the strength to speak. "I said," She blurted out, "That it's not true!"  
  
"What isn't true?" Kurt asked, his full attention affixed on her.  
  
"The whole story about you being thrown into a waterfall!! For God's sake, I thought you were all smart enough to figure  
out it wasn't true!! If I had done that, you wouldn't be standing here! You would be dead!!" Raven shouted, tears of anger  
and hurt in her golden eyes.  
  
Kurt sat, dumbfounded at the bombshell Raven had just dropped. Kitty was equally stunned. Kurt looked toward the Professor.  
  
"I know what you are wondering, Kurt. Yes, she is telling the truth." The Professor said, not quite able to comprehend what Mystique had  
just said himself.  
  
"So, what is the truth, Raven?" Kurt asked calmly. Finally, his life, his family's lives, would be complete.  
**********************  
  
I was born in a small farming village outside Stockholme, Sweden, as Raven Anna Darkholme in 1908. We were a poor farming family.  
My father would toll the fields all day, my mother was the village seamstress. I was there only child. A child born with porcelain skin,  
blue eyes and black hair, from wince my father named me. I was so special to him, and him to me. He was a strong man, my father, but gentle.  
Life was good, despite our poverty, until I turned ten.  
  
My health took a turn for the worst. my body ached all the time. I was so weak at times that I could not get out of bed. My mother would cry herself  
to sleep over me. My father took me to doctor after doctor, but none could diagnose what was wrong with me.  
  
About a week after my eleventh birthday, I started to feel better. I decided to go into the fields nearby, to pick some flowers for my mother's hair.  
How she loved the native wildflowers. She decorated her long, black braids with them, and she would put some into my own hair.  
  
That when my life ended.  
  
Out in the middle of the field, sharp pains wracked through my body. They were so intense. I thought I was going to die. I passed out.  
  
I couldn't believe I was still alive when I awoke.  
  
But I felt strong, my body was free of the pain that had wrecked it for the last couple of months. I felt strong, free. I began to dance in the field.  
  
Until I looked down at my hands.  
I screamed. They weren't my snowy ivory hands. But hands covered with blue skin. More blue than a dead man's. I ran to a local pond, I tried to wash the blue  
off. As I looked down at my reflection in the water, I screamed. I ran home to my mom and dad.  
  
They screamed. Called me a demon. Asked me what I did with their precious Raven. The villagers ganged together to hunt me. I hid in a local cave.  
The snow was cold, and I was scared. I knew I could never go home again.   
  
That's when I discovered my shapeshifting ability. Alone, in that cold, dank cave, I wished I was a bear, so my fur would keep me warm.  
And like magic, it happened.  
  
By experimentation, I learned later on how to shapeshift into other people. People I knew, images I had made up.  
It was this way that I held a job as a maid for a local wealthy couple.  
  
I saved my money, and fled to Germany, where I met Otto Adler. He was a local blacksmith, tall, brawney, with pale blonde hair and   
steely blue eyes. We married, and it was with him that I had my first child. Her name was Irene Adler, or as you later knew as Destiny.  
  
Needless to say, as my husband aged and died, my shapeshifting abilities kept me from aging. Irene knew of her mother's "talent", though  
her father never knew. When her abilities of prophecy emerged, I wanted to seek help for her somewhere.  
  
My late husband, however, left me with quite the nestegg, and it was with it that I was able to flee to Canada.  
It was also there that Department H recruited me. For the first time in my life, I heard the word mutant. I also met others  
like me and Irene.   
  
And, I fell in love once more.  
  
His name was Victor Creed. Dashing, brave, and a mutant like me. We bonded. Our bond produced the unholy spawn known as  
Graydon Creed. I didn't want to give him up, but due to Department H's insistance, I did. I now know that was for the best.  
  
It was shortly after I put Graydon up for adoption that Victor and I went our separate ways, romance wise, anyway.  
It was also shortly after this breakup that Department H hired yet another recruit. His name was Eric Wagner.  
  
I was paired with Eric on a mission to Germany. It was during this time that I fell in love with him and him with me. We wanted  
a better life together. We were both mutants, both members of Department H, and we both knew we wanted a life outside. We went AWOL  
from the department, married, and I, Eric and Irene settled near the Bavarian Alps of Germany. You were born a year later. As much  
as you were precious to me, you were very special to your father. He so desperately wanted a son. So you can imagine his joy when  
you showed up, blue skin and all.  
  
But our happy life was not to be lived for long. Department H came looking for us. They raided our little cottage, and took Eric into   
custody. I managed to escape with Irene and you.   
  
Because Irene was well into her middle age, I knew the department would never suspect her of being my daughter. You, how some ever, were  
a completely different story. I feared for you and your safety. I knew the department would make me give you up as well.   
  
During our marriage, Eric and I had befriended a local caravan of gypsies. I emplored Margali to take you into her home and raise you, to   
offer you the protection I couldn't.  
  
This whole experience changed me. I became brutal, cold, unfeeling. There's no need to go into detail of what happened after that, you know   
of me as the deplorable Mystique. What's worse, I allowed my flesh and blood daughter to use her abilities of prophecy to help me with my bruta  
lity.   
  
**************************  
  
Kurt looked at his enemy now in an entire different light. The woman he thought was an absolute monster was actually the loving mother he'  
had dreamed of having all his life. He stood in shock and disbelief, as well as the Professor and Kitty.  
  
"I don't believe it." Kurt said, dumbfounded. "All this time, after I discovered you were my mother, I despised you. Hated you.  
Never in my wildest dreams would I have pictured you to be a self-sacrificing parent. And Destiny?"  
  
"Your half-sister. " Raven stated.  
  
Kurt slumped back in his chair. After a long pause, he looked back to Raven. "Why? Why didn't you come back for me?"  
  
Raven shook her head, looking to him with wholehearted sincerity. "I wanted to, child! But I couldn't!! Department H had just started the   
Weapon X project, and I knew that if they discovered you, you would be their next labrat!!"  
  
Kurt was silent as he allowed his mind to process this newest bit of information. "Then, why didn't you tell me? When you found me with the X-men?"  
  
Raven sighed. "I had done so many dispicable, horrible things. I had more enemies than most people have changes of underwear! They would have killed you  
to spite me!! That's why I had to make sure you hated me!! So you wouldn't ask so many questions!!"  
  
Kurt shook his head. He looked to the Professor. "Professor, is all she said true?"  
  
The Professor shook his head, he himself in shock at the news. "If I were not a telepath, I too would think otherwise. However, Kurt, she is telling the exact  
truth."  
  
Kurt blinked. "No exaggeration, either?"  
  
The Professor shook his head."No, she is being painfully honest."  
  
Raven looked into her son's face, searching it for a reaction. Her eyes transfixed on the carpet in front of her as she spoke.  
"Kurt, I didn't come here to ask for forgiveness from you. In truth, I don't expect it. All I do wish for is understanding on your  
part. As a parent. Can you at least see reasonably why I had to do what I did?"  
  
Tears welled in Kurt's eyes. He didn't know what to say. It was too soon to judge exactly how he felt about her at this moment.  
  
"Ja. I do. I understand. In time, I can forgive. If...." Kurt gasped, "You do me one favor."  
  
"Anything. You are my son, and as a mother I will do whatever it takes." Raven rasped.  
  
"My father. Is he still alive?"   
  
Raven was silent for a long moment. She then spoke. "Yes."  
  
"Well? Where is he?" Kurt asked anxiously.  
  
Raven looked around the room for a second, and looked back to Kurt. "Your father wouldn't remember you, Kurt. Department H  
wiped his memories away. They even gave him another name. He doesn't remember his past."  
  
"And that new name is?" Kurt asked.  
  
Raven looked at the faces surrounding her. The Professor, Kitty, and Kurt. All of them, waiting to hear the name that would  
part from Raven's lips.  
  
"Logan." she said  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	16. dysfuction in the family

Disclaimer: All characters are marvels. Don't own them. Wish I did . This is all in fun, so please don't sue!!  
  
  
  
Author's note: Sorry it's been so long for this installment, but between doctor visits, work and writer's block, I haven't had much time. But hopefully, I am back on track this time. Thanks so much to Lasombra from the nightcrawler forum for the help. I plan to make this up to my loyal readers by holding a little contest. That's right!! With a prize and everything!!   
  
1. Read my story. PLEASE!! (Shameless wining in the background).  
  
2. Draw a scene or character from any chapter.   
  
3. Send it along with your name and e-mail address to : germany772000@yahoo.com.  
  
4. First prize wins a mint copy of Excalibur no. 76. It's just chock full of nighty goodness.  
  
5. Deadline is January 10, 2001. I will e-mail first place winner. They should e-mail me with their physical address so I can ship there book.  
  
Thanks so much  
  
Enjoy,  
Ravenhair  
  
Now, on with our story  
  
Chapt 16 of Junior X  
  
dysfunction in the family  
  
  
  
The news hit him harder than a freight train.  
  
For a few seconds, time stopped for Kurt Wagner, his eyes staring deep into Mystique's.  
  
He didn't hear that name. It just wasn't possible. His mind refused to aknowledge what his ears had just  
heard. He stared at Raven, now a miserable mass of pain and sadness, weeping for the forgiveness from her son that   
she so desperately sought. And those eyes, those same golden eyes he himself possessed, looking upon her son  
for a reaction.  
  
Kurt turned away and walked silently to the bay window in the Professor's den. He watched as the wind danced with the   
snow across the courtyard. Trying to come to terms with Mystique's revelation. His mind was stuck in a dreamlike trance  
from the shock of it all.  
  
Kitty walked over to her husband, concern bogging her. She knew Kurt was not taking this well. Who would? To  
find out the man whom you considered your father figure was indeed the genuine article? She, too, was struck down by  
the news. She knew it must be impossible for Kurt to accept. Gingerly, she allowed her elegant fingers to rest upon her  
husband's shoulders, careful not to startle him. He looked back to her, his yellow eyes still blank. There was practically no  
expression on his face.  
  
"Kurt?" Kitty asked. "Sweetheart, are you O.K.? Please, baby. Talk to me."  
  
Raven looked up at her son from her chair across the den. It ached her heart to see him this way. She began to doubt her decision to  
"Come clean" with Kurt. Is that all she was good for? Causing pain? She winced as more salty tears made their way down her cheeks.  
"I should have never done this to him. I could have just stayed out of his life and died away. He would never have hurt like this had  
I done so." She thought to herself, shaking her head.  
  
The hush which fell over the den was ominous, thick. The Professor decided to be the one to break the uneasiness that leered over the room.  
He himself was unable to accept this, so he knew just how hard it was for Kurt. However, shocking as it was, it wasn't entirely out of line.  
To Xavier, it actually made sense to him in its own weird way. The way Kurt and Logan bonded almost immediately upon meeting each other.  
The strong friendship the two shared which withstood the test of time. Where most found Logan a difficult man to understand, Kurt had always  
had a way of getting through to him. It was always more of a father-son relationship. And indeed, Logan found it hard to get close to anyone.  
However, he always looked after Kurt, and visa versa.  
  
No, it wasn't entirely out of line at all.  
  
"Kurt?" The Professor rasped, choosing the words to speak very carefully. This was, after all, about as easy as walking on broken glass.  
"Please, do not keep what you are feeling from us. I understand how shocking this must all be. Indeed, I myself am trying to come to terms  
with it." He shook his head, wondering if Kurt was listening to a word he said. "But now, so many questions you have wanted answered  
your entire life have come to light. I know very well that it wasn't the answers you expected. In fact, not what any of us expected at all.  
But, please, walk away from this having a true sense of your heritage, who you are and what your children will become." The Professor  
spoke, looking toward Kurt, whose gaze was still transfixed upon the courtyard below. He sensed a great confusion coming from the  
young man. This worried Xavier greatly. As a telepath, he knew all too well that it was far more painful not knowing exactly what to feel  
as to project one intense emotion.  
  
Kitty wrapped her arms around Kurt from behind, who was still affixed deep in thought. Her heart slammed with worry. Her hands rested on his  
protruding belly, and she could feel their precious children rolling around inside him. "God, why did she do this now? Of all times!!" Kitty thought  
angrily to herself, but dare not speak out loud. No need to intensify the situation. Lord knows it was too intense already.  
  
"Kurt? Honey?" Kitty whispered. "Please, say something? Anything? Talk to me? I don't care if you rip loose and curse like a sailor!! Please don't   
shut us away!"  
  
Kurt's gaze transferred back to his wife's face. Still no emotion or reaction evident in his expression at all. He nuzzled Kitty on the cheek and proceeded to   
return to the sofa he sat upon earlier. Clumsily, he sat down, trying to maneuver his girth onto the cushion. He buried his head in his hands, confusion and  
exhaustion overtaking him.  
  
"Kurt?" The Professor asked. "I know what you are feeling. But the others among us who love you were not blessed with my powers of the mind. The only   
way they will know is if you tell them. It is very important that you get these intense emotions out in the open." He explained.  
  
Kurt finally looked toward Mystique. His calm face turned into burning anger. He bared his fangs, shock now turning into boiling rage. His eyes turned to Raven  
as he spoke.  
  
"What right did you have?! Huh?! You kept me from my family! My father!! A man whom I have loved like my own father ever since we were teammates! A man  
whom I have fought side by side with all these years and cherished like the father I never had!! Only to find out all these years later that he is indeed my father!!  
AND HE DOESN'T REMEMBER ME!! HOW DARE YOU!! YOU CALLOUS BITCH!!!!" Kurt was standing now before Mystique. She was rumpled like a helpless  
ragdoll in the chair, hurt stinging her with each word Kurt spoke. "DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I'VE BEEN THROUGH IN MY LIFE? YOU COULD NEVER KNOW  
ALL THE PAIN!! THE SUFFERING!! THE LOSS OF LOVED ONES!! GOD!! I HATE YOU RAVEN!! MAY YOUR FESTERING SOUL ROT IN HELL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE   
DONE!!" Kurt was almost insane now, tears of anger and pain streaming down his face, his long hair wild and tangled about him.  
  
"Kurt, Please NO!!" Kitty rushed over to him. "Sweetheart, Please!! Don't waste your energy on her! She's not worth all this!!She never was!! Oh, please, Fuzzy!! Don't get this upset!  
Please think about our babies!!" Kitty cried, stroking his face soothingly, doing her best to snap him back to his senses. Kurt looked into her large brown eyes, so tranquilizing. He slowly  
came to his senses, looking down at his abdomen. He sighed heavily. He told himself earlier this morning that he would not allow Raven to grate him this way. So much for promising himself   
anything. He couldn't help himself. He wanted these answers all his life, and now he didn't know how to handle them now that they were his. He shook his head, grabbing Kitty in a loving   
embrace. She was his one beam of light when everything seemed to grow dark. He could feel the hug like a sedative, calming his anger and soothing his nerves. Now, he wasn't sure if his anger was  
toward Raven or more toward himself for not being able to cope with the truth.  
  
Kitty was right. He should not have dared risked his unborn children's health by blowing up the way he just did. Still, the rage was there. Breaking their embrace, Kurt looked to Kitty one last time,  
then back to Raven. Bitterness and intense anger still in his voice, he did his best to be as calm as was possible. For the triplet's sake, he would not allow her to infuriate him again. "Tell me, Raven.  
HOW?!"  
  
Raven was turned away, still weeping intensly. Kurt's reaction was definitly not what she had hoped for. But what could she expect? She whispered a silent prayer to a god she hoped still had time  
for her that one day her son would understand all this and learn to forgive. But in the meantime..... "Kurt, my darling baby. My baby boy..." She wimpered. And with this phrase, Kurt turned away,  
disgusted with her.  
  
"I'm listening." He snorted and walked back to the bay window he stared out before. He just couldn't take looking her in the face anymore. It hurt too much, especially knowing what he now knew.  
He wasn't sure if he could take it anymore. "I'm waiting." He said behind gritted teeth, still refusing to look at her.  
  
Raven took a deep breath. What was the use? Still, she had to try. This was her final chance. But she wouldn't tell her son that. Not now. She wanted to earn his forgiveness, not recieve it because  
he felt sorry for his dying bitch of a mother. No. That would remain her secret still. Hopefully, that forgiveness would be hers before she drew her final breath. "I don't know what to say or do to  
make things right. I'm sure you of all people know all too well that doing the right thing is not exactly easy for me. But I am trying, Kurt. I really am! I gave you the answers you sought. I can't make up  
for lost time. I wish I could. Lord knows that tou meant the world to me. I watched you all these years, hoping someday it would be safe for me to reveal everything to you. That day has come. I know  
it hurts, I know it's a shock. I know you may hate me more now than you ever have. I don't expect your forgiveness. God knows I would do anything to have it. If not now, one day. But please..."  
Raven begged, walking over to Kurt and laying a gentle blue-skinned hand on one of his broad shoulders. "Take comfort in knowing that you have a mother and father who have always loved you,  
wanted you and needed you."  
  
Kurt shook his head, the sun glistening from the snow outside hurting his eyes. He finally looked back toward Raven, his heart aching from today's events. With frustration on his face and in his voice,  
he finally answered her.  
  
"How dare you." Kurt snapped. "How dare you try to tell me that you loved me! Keeping secrets is not love!! And my father?! HA!!He doesn't even remember me!! ALL THIS TIME WE HAVE BEEN X-MEN TOGETHER AND....."  
  
Kurt was cut short. He felt an intense rush of heat flush over him, followed by extreme dizziness and a wave of intense nausea. The room began to spin, Kitty's face blending into the Professor's and then Raven's. He swallowed hard,  
feeling the acid rise in his throat. Weakness attacked his legs, and he slumped in the floor to his knees, grabbing his large abdomen with both hands. His breathing was becoming labored. He was so certain that his breakfast was going to  
be painted all over the victorian style roses in the Professor's carpet.  
  
"KURT!!!" Kitty screamed. "OH MY GOD!! PROFESSOR!! CALL HANK!!!!" She screamed, rushing to Kurt's side.  
Kurt was still on his knees, sweating profusely, but still concious. The Professor, alarmed as well, began paging McCoy on his cell phone.  
  
"Nein, nein." Kurt shouted weakly to the both of them. He smiled akwardly. "I am fine, honestly. Just a sudden bought of sickness, that's all."  
He nuzzled his head in Kitty's shoulder, and the Professor stopped in the middle of the call.  
  
"Kurt? Please, allow me to get Hank. It will only take a few seconds for him to get here and you really need..."  
Kurt interrupted the Professor.  
  
"Nein. I am fine! Honestly!! Would I lie to you?" Kitty was nuzzled in Kurt's chest, crying. Kurt comforted her.  
"Leibling, I am fine. The children are fine. I believe all the excitement got to me." Kurt weakly made his way back to his  
feet and stumbled over to the sofa.  
  
Kitty rushed to his side, smoothing his hair out of his face. She seemed relieved that Kurt seemed initially o.k. and in no  
immediate danger, but still she was worried. " Baby, let me get you a cold towel. You listen to me, mister. When we leave   
the Professor's den, we're going straight to Hank. You hear me, you stubborn german mule?" Kitty said sternly as she leaned  
Kurt back on the sofa and retrieved a wet cloth. She gingerly placed the compress upon his forhead, and proceeded to rub his  
abdomen and his hair in a soothing, comforting manner.  
  
"Oh, God, Kurt!! Please be alright!!" Raven shouted running over to the other side of the sofa where Kurt was seated, offering her  
assistance in any way. She gingerly grabbed the other arm that Kitty was not latched to, affectionately stroking his hair.  
  
The nausea passed, and Kurt wrenched his arm away from Raven. "Don't touch me. I'm fine." Kurt turned away from her and back to Kitty.  
He still had some weakness in his voice, but most of the sickness he had just felt had passed. He smiled and began to nuzzle her, her tears  
staining the fur on his neck.  
  
"Oh, Kurt!! What happened? Are you feeling better?" Kitty wept. Kurt nodded his head. Kitty smiled, but was obviously still worried.  
"You remember what I said. You are going straight to Hank!" Kitty ordered. Kurt smiled.  
  
"Yes,mother." Kurt laughed.  
  
Raven looked on. It hurt her, the way Kurt spurned her away. She had to do this. Give this one last shot. She remembered the note she   
had written before she left Dallas. She had to give it to Kurt. Do with it what he will.   
  
"Kurt." She spoke, wiping the tears from her golden eyes. " I will not cause you any more trouble. I won't force myself on you. But, Please.  
Take this. Hopefully one day, you will see a need for it." she gently handed Kurt the note, and proceeded to walk out the den.  
  
"Was?" Kurt asked, looking the note from all angles. Kitty leered at the shapeshifter, wishing she would hurry and leave.   
  
"Information on where to contact me. If you ever need me. Or if you want to pick up this conversation. I will be there. Please, give this some thought."  
She smiled and walked out the door.  
  
*******************  
  
Forge pulled the rental car to the front of the mansion. There stood Raven awaiting him, melded back into her disguise as a native american beauty.  
  
She stepped carefully in the car. As Forge pulled out, he looked at the silent Raven, curiousity as to how the little meeting went burning in his mind.  
  
"So, exactly what happened." Forge asked after a long silence.  
  
Raven smiled. Hope in her heart. Kurt accepted the note. Was there a possibility that things would work out after all? " It's really hard to say at the moment,  
Forge. There is too much to cope with right now. But I know my son better than anyone. I do believe in the long run, All will be well." She smiled through  
glistening tears as they drove to the airport.  
***********************  
  
Back in the den, Kurt and Kitty mulled over with the professor the day's events.   
  
Kurt was slowly coming to terms with his newfound parentage. "I can't believe it. Logan. My closest friend. All these years, the father I wished I had was  
right under my nose. There is so much I want to say, so much I want to make up for. " Kurt looked toward the Professor. "Oh, Professor, should I?"  
  
"Should you what?" The Professor asked.  
  
"Should I tell Logan? A part of me wants so desperately to. But I am not so sure."  
  
The Professor looked long and hard at Kurt. Kitty sat silent next to him, not sure what to say.   
  
"Kurt. I know that you are not sure of what to do. It's like having a ticking bomb and not knowing which direction  
to throw it in for fear of hurting the wrong people. I know how desperately you want to do the right thing. However, please  
remember that Logan is not the same man he was 27 years ago. We are dealing with a man whose life has been stolen from him,  
given a whole new life, even false memories that are not his own. I myself cannot sort through what is true and what is false in Logan's  
mind. However, it does seem that he remembers you on some level. That would explain the relationship you have always had with him.  
Every decision we make in our lives may be for the good, but they have consequences as well. I will leave this to you. You are a wise young man,  
and I know the decision you make will be for the best." The Professor stated.  
  
Kurt nodded. This was going to be very difficult, to say the least. He had so much to think over.  
  
"First things first." Kitty said. "We are going to see Hank right now, about that little episode you just had. I am watching you like a hawk, Baby."  
Kitty cooed.  
  
Kurt agreed. His mind was still racing, going over and over again the day's events. As the two walked into the medlab,  
Kurt was even more confused. 


	17. better the devil.....

Disclaimer: All Marvel's!! Not Mine!! Capice?  
  
  
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all out there. May you and yours have a good one!!  
  
P.S. Don't forget my little contest!! In case you haven't heard, you can read all about it at the beginning of chapt. 16. So, get that scratchpad out!!  
  
Now, on with the show!!  
  
Chapt. 17 of Junior X  
  
Better the devil.....  
  
  
"Oh, God!! Is Kurt O.K.? Are the babies alright?" A very worried Kitty Wagner asked frantically of Dr. Henry McCoy. Kurt was laid on the examination table, wires from an EKG were strapped to his chest, and the wand from the sonogram being guided meticulously  
by Hank's skilled hand over Kurt's abdomen.   
  
"Mein Gott, Oh, please. Let my little ones be safe. We've come so far!! Oh, please..." Kurt prayed. His pale face was still drenched in a light coat of sweat. He was still slightly ill, but  
not as severe as before.  
  
"Please, both of you. Give me time. I've only got two hands, large as they may be." Hank joked, doing his best to lighten the panic the young couple felt. Hank's smile did nothing more than  
disguise the fact that was made obvious to him during Kurt's last exam. His loyalties torn between his ethics as a doctor, his duties as a scientist, and the love he possessed for his friends. "I  
can assure you, the babies are absolutely wonderful! Their heartbeats are as strong as ever." Hank assured the Wagners, relieved himself. No, he would not tell them. Not right now.  
  
Over in the corner, reading Kurt's EKG, was one Dr. Cecilia Reyes. One very angry, very distraught young lady. She watched as the Ekg bleeped across the screen in front of her. She could feel the  
anguish build within her as she noticed the same abnormality as last time, only this one was slightly worse. "Goddamned McCoy." She thought to herself. "What right do you have? To keep this from them?"  
Her heart was torn between telling them the truth, or actually trying to reason with herself that Hank was doing the right thing. She herself knew how desperate Kurt and Kitty were to have another child. Was  
she right to jump to conclusions and dash their hopes. She was a doctor first. Always told herself that. She swore that nothing would come between her and those ethics. Of course, that was so easy to say at  
the time. Now, her promise was being put to the test. "Damn you, McCoy." She muttered silently to herself. "How could you do this to them? To me?" Her hazel eyes were starting to sting with tears ,  
watching the irregular graph roll in front of her, taunting her. She affixed her attention to it, hoping for the impossible to happen. That miraculously, everything would be alright somehow.  
  
But things don't work that way, do they? If they did, bad things wouldn't happen to good people. But they do, all the time. The green, abnormal line kept burning into her face, tearing her own heart out with it each  
time. "This can't go on. No matter what Hank says, They have to know." she told herself.  
  
Kurt grasped Kitty's hand tightly. Her eyes were still glassy with worry. If only that worry would go away. His eyes drifted over to the sonogram. His heart lept into his throat and his spirits soared as he saw their  
three, tiny children on the screen. It was much easier to make them out now. Their little arms, heads, legs. He and Kitty both watched as the babies swimmed, lepted, kicked. Kurt's eyes filled with intense joy and he   
felt enrapturement run through him as the little ones sucked their thumbs. One of the tiny babies, the little girl the best Kurt could make out, actually yawned and turned over, which he felt vividly.   
  
"Oh, God, Kurt!! Look at them! So tiny! So healthy!! Oh...." She trailed off as she hugged her husband in the rush of love she had. Kurt wrapped himself up in her arms, his golden eyes alit with happiness at the news   
Hank gave them on the children. "Oh, Danke Gott!!" He breathed.  
  
Hank shook his head, doing his best to hide his worry. No, he didn't lie to them. He was telling them the truth when he told them that the babies were fine.  
He merely neglected to add that Kurt was not. No, he just couldn't . This had to work. He would make it work, by God!! Hank's eyes glanced over to Cecilia at the heart monitor, noticing the pain in her lovely features.  
  
"Hank, can I see you a minute?" Cecilia practically snapped. He knew how agonizing this was for her to go through. But he had to make her understand. He strode over to her, looking over her shoulder at the screen.  
  
"Oh, my stars and garters...." Hank trailed off. The EKG was horrible. No, this couldn't be happening. Not when they had come this far.  
  
"Hank, we can't! We have to tell them!! Don't you see?! Kurt had a very close call today! Next time, he may not be so lucky!! If we don't end this now..."  
  
"SHHH!!" Hank scolded her and placed his hand over her mouth. "They'll hear you!!"  
  
"That's the idea!! Hank, we've got to tell them! NOW! This is slowly killing Kurt!" Cecilia pleaded with him. She felt as though she were begging a madman. "Hank, Please!!"  
  
"CECILIA! Listen to me!" Hank said sternly, trying to reason with her. "We can't! We just can't! It is of dire importance that this work! Don't you see? I know things look bad right now,   
I do!! But, please! You must trust me! I will see Kurt and the children through this!!" Hank was staring intently into Cecilia's eyes, hoping that he was getting through to her.  
  
Her face crumpled into a hopeless sort of sadness. Her lips quivered as she looked at McCoy, both angry and dissappointed at him. Words could not express how she felt.  
"How?" Cecilia merely asked, her face speaking more than her lips ever could to him.  
  
Kitty noticed Hank and Cecilia's little meeting in the corner. To her, it looked very intense. "Hank? Cecilia? What is it? Is everything O.K.? Oh, God, please! Tell us!!"  
Kitty pleaded, panic creeping back into her voice.  
  
Hank looked back to Cecilia. Would she tell them? Or would she do what he deemed necessary. Hank hoped with all his strength that she chose the latter.  
  
"Kitty." Cecilia started. She looked up at the young woman. So full of hope, so desperate to get the family back she and her husband had lost. The Doctor's eyes  
drifted over to Kurt. His largely swollen belly. He was sitting on the edge of the exam table now, panic plastered on his face . He looked so tired and pale. Huge circles  
of black underneath his eyes. Aside from his round abdomen, he was starting to look painfully thin everywhere else. She remembered the ribs protruding out to her  
as she lifted his shirt at the exam earlier. His sharp cheekbones looked even sharper, and lean cheeks indicating to her as a medical professional that he was way underneath his  
normal body weight. Once again Cecilia's eyes drifted from Kurt back to Hank. His face was pleading to her, so desperate to hold on to the secret that only the two of them knew.  
She cleared her throat. Too late now. She had to go through with this.  
  
"Please, Dr. Reyes. Tell us. Our children? They are fine?" Kurt's voice was so intense in her ears, hearing the echos of love he had for the tiny lives growing inside him with each  
word he spoke. Those sincere eyes, searching her face for the answer he so desperately wanted to hear. His arms were wrapped around his stomach, as though he were gathering the  
triplets in a loving embrace.  
  
She couldn't. Hank was right. Damn him all to hell. He was right. She would live with the consequences later, but for now.........  
  
"Please, you two!! Or should I say, you five!!" Cecilia said, trying to be as painfully cheerful as possible. "Everything is as right as rain!! I and Hank were  
merely going over your latest tests!! I needed the good Doctor to confirm something for me. Right, Hank?" Cecilia looked back to McCoy. He could see nothing  
but vile venom darting at him from those beautiful brown eyes of hers. It cut him to the core, especially when just a little over a week ago they held nothing but  
love for him.  
  
"Yes, indeed." Hank picked up flawlessly. Through the smile and bullshit he was dishing to the Wagners, he felt like he no longer had a soul. What was worse, he  
was dragging the woman he loved into this pit with him. "Smile, McCoy. You dirty bastard! Tell them what they want to hear, you monster." Hank's inner voice said  
to him as he proceeded.  
  
"We have both looked over everything. You are doing extremely well, my friend. You are, however, very exhausted. What triggered this episode, anyway? What  
happened to get you so upset?" Hank asked, guilt stabbing at him with every word.  
  
Kurt sighed in relief . "Well, without getting into any details, lets just say it's something that I must resolve myself." Kurt stated simply, looking up at Kitty. Kitty  
wrapped her arms around his neck, relief flooding over her as well. That was definitly something to ponder. "After Kurt is rested" she told herself.  
  
"But everything is fine? No major problems?" Kitty asked. Hank could hardly bear to look either one of his friends in the face. They were so trusting. Never would either one  
of them dream that he would lie to them or do anything to endanger them. Oh, God. Why? The game was being played. Hank couldn't back out now. He couldn't if he wanted to.  
So he looked the two of them in the face. And he lied yet again. "I assure you that our little daddy to be here is fine. However.." Hank looked directly at Kurt. "I suggest whatever upset  
you today be avoided at all costs. You are, after all, seven months pregnant. Goodness!! Almost eight!! You are to take it easy!! Get as much rest as possible. And absolutely NO STRESS  
WHATSOEVER!!" Hank advised. Kurt and Kitty embraced each other.  
  
"That's it, you mother fucker! Are you happy now? Kurt is very sick, and its all your fault, you son-of-a-bitch!! May you burn in hell, McCoy!!"  
Cecilia's mind flashed these words across her brain like a neon sign. She watched as the young couple celebrated the lies McCoy fed to them. She  
felt so tainted, as thought she were the grim reaper.  
  
"Kurt." Cecilia spoke  
  
"Ja?" Kurt chirped. He was so insufferably happy. Cecilia smiled wanely, and glanced one final time at Hank, her hate burning into him.  
  
"Please, do your best to follow Hank's advice. You have done all you can for us and the rest of the X-men. You are our brother. Now iw the time you  
need us the most. Take it extremely easy. We will be here for you if you need anything at all." She could feel the lump rise in her throat at these words.  
Like all this advice was going to do any good. "When you reach your eighth month, I have every intention of putting you on bed rest until the babies are born,  
Understood?" Cecilia asked, compassion for Kurt in her voice.  
  
Kurt sighed. He was an active person. Well, not so active anymore. His increased size had put him out of commission on some things. But to lay in bed for  
eight weeks? He would go crazy. Still, he would follow her advice."Loud and clear, fraulien." He grinned.  
  
"Well, seeing as how my family is fine, I believe I need to get them back to our room. It has been a long day, too long." Kitty stroked Kurt's hair. "You are  
following Hank's advice as of right now."  
  
"Please do. Remember, Kurt." Hank shouted for him as he and Kitty made their way out the medroom door. "Plenty of rest? No stress?"  
  
Kurt nodded, then yawned. "Yes, sir." Kurt laughed as the door closed behind them.  
  
Upon the door closing, Hank span back around. Cecilia standing before him. Rage plastered on her face. He knew he had a lot of questions to answer.  
  
"Cecilia, please. Try to understand. What I am doing is for the best. For all involved." Hank grabbed Cecilia, forcing her to look him in the face.  
"Don't you trust me? Don't you know I wouldn't allow anything to happen to Kurt or these children? Please!!" Hank pleaded. "We'll get through this!!  
Together!!" Hank attempted to pull Cecilia into an embrace, which she quickly wrestled her way out of.  
  
"Don't touch me!! You, you...." Cecilia trailed off, grabbing a lab report on her desk. "Look at this!! Look at this and tell me that we're going to get through this!"  
  
Hank's eyes ran over the report. It was Kurt's current blood work. His heart sank. Any hope that Hank had was broken. Kurt's white count was extremely high, not  
to mention his electrolytes were extremely unbalanced. "Yes, well..." Hank started, gently folding the report in half and looking at Cecilia sadly.  
  
"That's all you can say? Don't you know how truly bad this all is?! Or don't you care?! My God, Hank!! This test confirms what we thought!! Kurt's body  
is rejecting the orb!! It's seeing it as a foreign object and treating it as such!! Oh, and did I mention the damage that is being done to his internal organs?!"  
Cecilia was infuriated.  
  
Hank shook his head. Yes, he was a doctor as well. He knew fully well what was going on. What could he say? "Cecilia, what do you want me to do? We could  
tell them the truth, but I assure you it would do more harm than good."  
  
"How much more harm could possibly be done?! HANK!!" Cecilia shouted. "My God!! We have to tell Kurt!!We have to end this pregnancy before Kurt dies!!"  
she screamed.  
  
"NO!! YOU WILL NOT!!" Hank snarled, blocking Cecilia's way to the door. Doing his best to compose himself, he returned to reason. "Cecilia, I must admit, I knew the  
orb was intended soley for Shiar males. I also knew that there were slight anatomical differences between humans and shiar, but I really didn't think they were significant  
enough to matter!! I thought....." Hank cut himself short,not knowing exactly what to say.  
  
Cecilia's eyes narrowed. Things were becoming more and more clear to her. Yes, indeed. "Hank, you mean to tell me you knew of this?"  
  
"Yes." Was Hank's only reply.  
  
"And, did you tell Kurt of this before he agreed to this procedure?" She asked.  
  
Hank took a deep breath. "No." he said simply  
  
"Can you tell me why?" she asked.  
  
"I already told you!! I didn't think it was a significant enough difference!!"  
  
Cecilia was furious. She slammed her hands on the desk in front of her angrily. "GODDAMNITT, HANK!! Don't give me that line of shit!! You're a doctor!! A damned good one!!  
You know good and well that there is no such thing as an insignificant factor in medicine!!"She raised up, her suspicions becoming more and more fueled. "Or......" she said accusingly.  
  
"Or what?" Hank snapped. "Tell, me."  
  
"Or, what if you did know? Yes, I think you knew all too well, but if you told Kurt of this possible risk, he may have not been willing to go through with  
your little experiment."  
  
Hank's eyes widened. "Cecilia, what are you saying?"  
  
"What I'm saying," she said enraged. "That Kurt and his children are just guini pigs to you!! You don't give a diddly damn for them!! You just wanted to have a medical  
first attached to your name!! To have your name hilighted in medical journals!! Your concern doesn't lie with Kurt's health or his desire to have another child!! It never did!!  
It only served your own scientific ego!! You won't end this, because you can't handle the failure of one of your little lab experiments!!" Cecilia was screaming now.  
  
"Don't you dare!!" Hank was raising his voice now. "Don't you dare incinuate that I care nothing for Kurt or his family!! I love them all like my own!! How the hell could you know   
what I feel? What my intentions are!!" he shouted back at her.  
  
"Then prove it to me!!" Cecilia snapped.  
  
"What?" Hank retorted.  
  
"Go and tell Kurt and Kitty the truth. Remove the orb! Terminate this pregnancy, before it terminates Kurt!! I know it will be painful and dissappointing at first for the  
both of them, but they will heal and move on over time. It's bad enough Kitty has lost one child! Do you want her to have to simply deal with a miscarriage of sorts?  
Or do you want her to loose Kurt and the babies all four!! This way, she would still have Kurt!! It's not an easy choice, but...."  
  
"NO!! I WILL NOT!! DO YOU HEAR ME?" Hank bellowed. "I will not let anything happen to any of them!! Besides..." he paused, "It's not as easy as just removing the orb."  
  
"Why not?!" she asked. "If you put it in there, surely you can remove it!!"  
  
"No, I can't! The orb is attached to several major blood vessels in Kurt's body. That's how it nourishes the babies. On top of that, at this point in time it is a diamond-hard, techno-  
organic material, similair in nature to the phalanx. It has it's own branches tangled around Kurt's organs. If I attempted to remove it, that alone I know will kill him." Hank explained.  
He took a deep breath. "The only way the orb will be removed is for the orb to go through the birthing process."  
  
Cecilia slumped down in the chair. "So, what you are saying is, Kurt has no choice but to go through this pregnancy?"  
  
"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. If you do not believe me, then go through the mansion's Shiar files. The orb is fully explained ."  
He snorted,  
  
"You knew of all of this. Knew of all the risks, and did this to Kurt anyway. I have no choice. I will keep my mouth shut, since the truth will do no good. I will do my very best  
to help you see Kurt and his babies through this ordeal. However, I see that you are not the man I fell in love with. You are not the Hank McCoy I knew. You are no better than Dr. Jekyll and   
Mr. Hyde in my eyes. May you bust hell wide open for what you have done, McCoy." Cecilia said calmly and walked out the medroom door.  
  
An ominous silence was left over the medroom with Cecilia's exit. Hank slumped down into his chair, burying his head in his hands. Was Cecilia telling the truth? Was he no better than a mad scientist  
out of some cheezy horror flick? Out to proove his theories and genius at any cost? He loved Kurt and Kitty dearly.  
  
But, deep in his heart, he knew on some level that what Cecilia had accused him of was true.  
  
"I got you into this, my friend. I will see you through it, at any cost." Hank whispered to himself.  
  
But what Hank didn't know was there was another resident of the mansion who was also concerned with Kurt's condition. Outside the medroom door, where all could be heard, stood one lone man, taking  
in all that had been said as he was instructed to do. This would please the man he was working for. Please him very much indeed.  
  
*********************  
  
Outside the mansion, lurking in the thick woods behind it, was a figure all too familiar with the X-men. It, in fact, knew more about them than they knew about themselves.  
And just as dreaded as the devil himself.  
  
The lone man who spyed on McCoy, and who in fact had been doing so for Kurt's entire pregnancy made his way into the woods. The figure stood silent, waiting for the man to approach him.  
The lone man gave the figure the latest information, line by line. The shadowy figure sneered in delight.  
  
"So, the teleporter's pregnancy is not going well, eh?" The figure smiled evily at Remy Lebeau  
  
"Non. De tink Kurt may not survive it."  
  
The figure stroked its chin in thought. "I must say, ever since I found out about the procedure, I have been fascintated. A pregnant male? Whom would have thought it possible?"  
  
"Not Remy. Dat fer sure." The cajun stated. He lit a cigarette, pulling his trenchcoat tighter around him to keep out the cold.  
  
"Oh, I must admit. I am in sheer awe. McCoy is definitley a genius. And, as a fellow scientist, I must not allow his work to go down the tubes. Especially since I have special interests in one of  
Wagner's children." the figure said.  
  
"Why dat be, anyway?" asked Remy, taking another draw off his cigarette.  
  
"Very simple, my boy. One of Nightcrawler's unborn children will be a very powerful teleporter. The female he carries, to be exact." the figure walked a few feet ahead, looking toward the mansion.  
"Such a mutant would certainly be useful in my ultimate goal."  
  
"Dat be?" Remy asked.  
  
"That is, how you say, none of your damned business?" it snapped back sarcastically.  
  
"Oui. So what do Remy haf ta do ta get his ultimate goal?" the cajun asked.  
  
"Very simple, my boy. Only one last thing. Hank has made this too easy. All you have to do is ensure that I and Dr. McCoy happen to meet  
in the next week or so. I will take care of the rest."  
  
Remy looked at the figure, confused. "Dat it? Dat all Remy have ta do?"  
  
"Yes, for this and your work over the last couple of months, you will be greatly rewarded." it smiled wickedly, its red eyes glowering harshley.  
  
"Remy finally get what he want. To be able to touch mon petit?" he asked.  
  
"Yes. At long last, you and your southern belle will be able to be together in every way possible. You will have what you want, and I will have what  
I want. Sinister is a man of his word." 


	18. the pact

Disclaimer: All MARVEL'S!! NOT MINE!! NO SUE ME!!  
  
  
Chapt. 18 of Junior X   
The Pact  
  
How he wished he could wash the week's troubles down the drain.  
  
This was Kurt Wagner's thought as he ran the antique cast iron tub full of hot water. It had been almost a week since Mystique's visit, and things had not gotten any easier for him to deal with. He shook his head,  
a million thoughts and possibilities swimming through his troubled mind. His heart wished for one thing, his mind logically optioned for another.  
  
"Why?" he thought as he undressed. "Why? What right did she have?" He gently stepped into the tub, allowing his skin to adjust to the temperature of the water. He then proceeded to gently lower the rest of his  
enormous girth into the tub, the soapy water flowing around his body. He sighed, resting his head on the wall behind him.  
  
"Should I? All my life I have wondered, imagined what it would be like to have my heritage. To know who my parents are. Only to find out that my father was right under my nose. Mein Gott." He tried to allow the   
thought to dissappear. For now, anyway. A smile of relief played across his lips, allowing the heat of the bath to soothe his aching muscles and calm his frazzled nerves. The relief rippled across his body as he  
closed his eyes in exhaustion, pondering what his next step should be.  
  
"If I tell Logan, what would he do? Reject me? Accuse me of lying? Would I ruin his present by telling him of a past life he doesn't even remember, much less of me, his son? And what about our children? Don't they  
deserve to know?" Kurt sat up with this thought. The children. They were what Kurt lived and breathed for each day. He looked down at his belly, pride and love in his heart. He laughed to himself as he watched his  
stomach move and heave with the babies' movements. Love flooded his heart once more, and he leaned his head back again, sleep doing its best to overtake him. Whatever his decision, it would change his life and his  
childrens' lives for good.  
  
Just as he was about to doze off, Kitty's voice rang out to him, slightly muffled by the large wooden door of the bathroom.  
  
"Kurt?" Kitty asked from the other side, her knuckles rapping on the door. "Kurt, honey, are you O.K. in there? Please, sweetheart, answer me?"  
  
Kurt lazily opened his eyes halfway, looking toward the door where the voice eminated. He sighed in slight aggravation that he had been disturbed, and finally answered.  
"Ja, leibling. I'm fine. I will be out shortly." he answered tiredly.  
  
"Well, just don't fall asleep in there." Kitty's voice answered. "There have been cases of people drowning in tubs."  
  
Kurt chuckled to himself as he heard Kitty walk away from the dooor and to their bedroom down the hall. He returned to his relaxed position, resting his hands on his protruding stomach. One of the babies  
kicked hard right in the middle of his belly, catching him slightly off guard.  
  
" Oh, so you want to play, eh?" he lovingly asked the children. This was fine by him. After last week's scare, it was just one more signal that they were doing fine, and each movement relieved him.  
  
As he felt the bathwater begin to loose its heat, he finally decided it was time to join the outside world, as bad as he hated to at the moment. The bath had done wonders for his tired body, but what   
about his equally tired soul? He knew what waited for him. The ultimate decision. Something he had been putting off for a whole week. Would he tell Logan? Kurt's face reflected the sadness in his  
inability to make a decision.   
  
Kurt raised himself out of the tub. Definitley no small task nowadays. He groaned as he lifted himself out, trying his best to manuever his stomach to his advantage. Finally on his feet, he dried himself , and   
proceeded to slide into a very large pair of blue faded jeans and an extra large red t-shirt. As the shirt slipped over him, the babies once again tumbled inside him. Gingerly rubbing his stomach, he stood in front of the half-  
mirror at the sink, looking himself up and down. No matter how many times he looked at himself, he could not quite get over just how big he truly was. Yet, he felt such pride and love every time he looked down at his stomach, so  
full of life. They were becoming more and more active not to mention the strain of carrying them more and more evident. His back and legs ached constantly now, and his stomach usually got in the way of the things he was   
accustomed to doing for himself. The gymnastics he loved were big no-nos, and he was constantly tired, either wanting to sit down or take a nap one. And bladder control was out of the question. He rubbed his lower back, the weight  
bogging it down once again.  
  
And he would gladly go through this hell again for them.  
  
Kurt brushed his face with one hand. One thing was very evident, he needed a shave in the worst way. Kitty had commented yesterday about his bristly cheek, and told him it was like kissing an S.O.S pad. He just hadn't felt like shaving. He looked at  
the dark circles under his eyes. The babies had constantly kept him awake with their kicking lately. He smiled.  
  
"You really must get more rest, mein friend. After all, you are sleeping for four." He thought as he raked the razor across his face.  
  
His face. High distinctive cheekbones. Sharp cleft chin. Well chiseled and cut. Full lips. A face Kitty constantly told him would make him a male model, if blue-skinned mutants were accepted. Framed with  
black-violet hair. He stared, the resembelance finally becoming evident to him.  
  
"Mein Gott." He realized. "It's Logan's face." And truthfully, it was. Despite being covered with blue fuzz and younger, it was really indisputable. Kurt was not quite as muscular, and he was taller, but still.......  
  
"Kurt?" came Kitty's voice again. "Are you sure you're alright? You've been in there for almost an hour! You're not sick, are you?" She asked frantically.  
  
Kurt looked toward the door. As annoying as Kitty's questions were becoming, he still loved her for them. He smiled. "I am finished, dear, just shaving." He shouted back as he rinsed the remaining shaving cream from  
his face. He opened the door to find his wife's questioning chestnut eyes staring back at him.  
  
"Oh, Kurt." Kitty said, wrapping him up in her arms. She raised her head, kissing him on the cheek and then planting a kiss on his stomach. She looked back into his eyes. "Are you sure you're o.k.? You weren't in there  
throwing up or anything, were you?" Kitty asked worridly. "And don't lie! I know you, Mr. Wagner. Don't lie just to keep me from worrying."  
  
Kurt closed his eyes and smiled, gathering her in his arms. "I feel fine, sweetheart. I was just taking a bath. The hot water felt so good, I guess I just lost track of time, that's all." He smiled, drowsiness creeping in his voice.  
  
Kitty smiled, satisfied but still worried. Kurt still looked pale, and he seemed weak. "Well, let's get you four to bed." She said, wrapping one arm around his back and resting her free hand on his abdomen, guiding him down the  
hallway to their bedroom. "I want you to take it extremely easy, mister. Do you hear me?"  
  
Kurt nodded, sleep playing with his eyelids. "Ja. I would love nothing more than to get off of my feet for a little while." He said wearily as they walked through the bedroom door.  
  
Closing the door behind her, Kitty turned down the sheets and pulled the blinds. "I don't want anyone to disturb you, understand? I don't care who it is or what they want. Your health comes first." She said sternly as she lowered   
Kurt onto their bed.  
  
Kurt didn't argue as he usually would, didn't even answer with words. The pregnancy was making him more and more tired as time went on. And why not? Carrying triplets wasn't easy for a woman, much less a man. He merely nodded,   
and lay flat on his back, sighing in relief as the bed cradled his tired body.  
  
As Kitty proceeded to plump up his pillow, Kurt propped himself up on his elbows, his eyes looking to Kitty.  
"Kitty?" Kurt asked.  
  
"Yes, baby." She returned as placed the pillow back in its spot. Her eyes, so warm and loving, looked to Kurt. She knew all too well what was on his mind. She knew that it was something that had to be dealt with. But she also knew that her  
husband was in no condition to be facing this right now. She smiled, waiting for Kurt to ask the question she already knew was coming.  
  
"What about?" he stopped, then proceeded. "What about Logan?"  
  
Kitty's face melted into a pool of worry and confusion. She wanted so desperately to answer. But how? She herself wasn't sure how this should be handled. And poor Kurt, he had been sitting on top of this bombshell for a week. She took a deep  
breath, saying the only thing she could. "I wish I knew." She stroked his hair, looking intently at the man she loved with all her heart. "God, why did she do this?! Why, of all times, did mama Mystique decide to be honest with you!  
She's pure evil! Even when she tells the truth she fucks everything up!!" Kitty regained her composure, not wanting to upset Kurt. He surely didn't need another episode like the one he had earlier this week. She took another deep breath  
looking at her husband. His eyes, so desperate, so full of pain.  
  
"Darling, I know this has to be dealt with, and I know that there is no easy way out of this,but..." She stopped, resting her head on Kurt's chest and rubbing his belly. "I really think this needs to be put on the back burner until later."  
  
Kurt leaned flat on his back once more, his mind tired. "How much later?" He asked, stroking Kitty's hair. "I want to do the right thing, Kitty, whatever that may be. I wish I knew." Kurt grabbed Kitty tighter. "My decision is going to affect all  
involved, not just me. But you, our children, our friends, and especially Logan." Kurt could feel tears in his eyes. "If I tell him, it would change his life forever. I'm not sure for the better or worse. If I don't..." He choked, "Then Logan will  
never know the past he's so longed to obtain, and I will have not only lost my father once, but twice."  
  
Kitty raised up, looking down at Kurt. Laying on the bed, so very, very pregnant. His face so tormented. No, she didn't know what to tell him, but she did know what Kurt needed right now. She placed a finger to Kurt's lips to hush them. She smiled.  
"Kurt, listen to me. Let's put one thing at a time. We have a long ordeal ahead of us. We will get through this. It's going to be a long road, I know. But if there is anything that I have learned, it's the fact that, as long as we have each other, we   
will be invincible, as always." She blinked back her own tears, hoping her words gave Kurt some hope and rested his heart. "Kurt?" She turned to her husband, realizing that he didn't answer.  
  
She looked into Kurt's face. "No wonder, the poor dear is fast asleep." She looked at him. He seemed to be resting soundly, better than he had in a while. His chest moving up and down in rhythm with his steady breathing. Kitty stroked his hair. "Sleep tight,  
my love. Get as much rest as possible." She whispered to him as she kissed him on the cheek.  
  
******************  
  
The sun glistening off the snow burned his eyes as he walked into the courtyard of the mansion. Despite the bright blue sky and the fact that the snow was starting to melt, it was still bitterly cold, and the wind chilled him, even through his heavy parka.  
  
"Cold, just like my heart." Hank McCoy thought to himself as he proceeded to brush the snow off the wrought-iron bench. Sitting down, he looked ahead at the edge of the mansion grounds.  
  
Just a few feet ahead of him, cardinals were feeding off the seeds Betsy had put out for them. A little further ahead, he could see two rabbits headed for the thick forests, leaving nothing but tiny prints behind. "How unfair." He thought, "Despite all the   
crisises I face, life goes on. Normal, for some." Hank buried his head in his hands, stricken with grief. For his endangered friend, for himself. This dark road he walked these past seven months. Had he indeed become the dreaded dark beast?  
  
"I had the best of intentions." He told himself. Somehow, this little pep talk wasn't working. After all, the road to hell was paved with good intentions. Hank allowed his eyes to wander to one of the top windows of the mansion. The window to Kurt and Kitty's  
quarters. His heart slammed with shame and remorse, yet his eyes refused to tear themselves away from that window. He knew, just beyond those glass panes, lay a very sick and possibly dying young man. A man who loved his family so much he was willing to take any  
risk to have a second chance. Hank slowly removed his eyes and focused on the ground in front of him. McCoy was a scientist. He didn't just run from a problem like this. But, what more was there to do? Why, amongst all of his knowledge, could he not help Kurt?  
  
Hank's attention was grabbed by the faint crunching of snow. Somebody was making their way toward him. In his disgust, however, he decided not to look up. He would only acknowledge their prescence when necessary. Right now, he wanted some time to wallow in his  
own self-pity. Realizing that the footsteps stopped in front of him, he looked up to meet their owner.  
  
"Hey der, doc." Shoulder length reddish hair and red on black eyes stared at him. "What de matter? You look like someone shot yer dog." The cajun laughed as he lit a cigarette.  
  
Hank's face shot back an annoyed, aggravated expression. He came out here to be alone, to think. Not to exchange dim-witted phrases with Remy. Hank bit himself back. This was, after all, one of his friends, his "family". No need to bite their heads off for his  
fuck-up. "Please, Remy. If you don't mind." He turned away. "I'd rather be alone. Thanks anyway."  
  
Remy sat down beside Hank. He took another drag off his cigarette. "Dat's it, Lebeau. Play de cards, just like ol' Sinister wants." He thought to himself as a smile played across his lips. "Sure, I understand." Remy said, placing a hand on Hank's shoulder.  
"But if ya need a friend, ol Remy right here. Like always. Come on, Blue, you make Remy sad to see you like dis." Remy questioned with mock concern.  
  
Hank smiled wainly. "No, Remy. There's nothing anyone can do. Not a damned thing." He said quietly.  
  
Remy smiled. Kurt's situation must be more serious than he initially thought. "Perfect." Remy said to himself. "The hook's been baited. Sinister's just gotta reel in his catch." Remy shook his head. "How do ya know I can't help? You don't know, I don't know,  
if you don't tell me." Remy pried, laying on his charm thick.  
  
Hank's expression grew sad once more. "No, how I wish you could, my friend. But..." He looked into the Cajun's eyes. There was nothing he could do, but there was one thing Remy might be able to assist him with.  
  
"Do you really want to do something for me?" Hank said, his blue eyes so full of emotion.  
  
Remy nodded. "Anything." He said sincerely.  
  
"All my life, I have put my faith in science, in tangiable properties. Only those things which I could measure with a test tube or experiment. I had the utmost faith in physics, in chemistry and medicine." Tears were welling and he looked away from Remy.  
"I feel that my faith may have been ill-placed. These dieties of science fail me now. Tell me, Remy, are you a religious man?"  
  
Remy shook his head. "I don't consider myself no saint."  
  
"But.." Hank asked, "Do you believe in a higher power?"  
  
Remy nodded. "Oui. Remy do."  
  
"Then do me a favor. Pray to that higher being, be it my God or another. It's the only hope I have now." Hank wiped his eyes, doing his best to gather himself. Hank rose to his feet, walking silently back toward the mansion, leaving Remy in his place on the bench.  
  
Remy shouted for him. "Say, where you go? Don't walk away from me!" Remy shouted, acting as though his friend's grief bothered him.  
  
Hank span around to answer. "I'm going back to the medlab. I'll be there all night, if anyone needs me." Hank resumed his walk toward the mansion. Hearing the front door close, Remy smiled to himself, satisfied with how well all the pieces were falling in place  
for him.  
  
"So, de good doctor be in all day and night, eh?" He laughed to himself. "Looks like Sinister can get an appointment for dis afternoon, non?"  
  
*****************  
  
"Kurt, please! Just one more plate?" Kitty begged Kurt as she tried to force a fourth helping of Rogue's lasagna down his throat.  
  
Kurt laughed. "Please, Kitty! I beg you, no more!" He grabbed both of her hands, kissing them. He loved their time alone, especially with the future they faced.  
"I haven't the room!"  
  
"But," Kitty said, looking down at the cheese-ladened casserole. "You've lost so much weight, and I've been so worried, and cheese is so fattening!! And it would be  
good for you and our babies!! And you slept through lunch and dinner and, and...." Kitty babbled on and on, making Kurt burst out in hysterical laughter.  
  
"Kitty, leibling," Kurt smiled. There was worry in her voice and her nervous smile. He took a deep breath. "If it means that much to you, I will eat every last crumb."  
Kurt said lovingly as he took the plate from her. Her worried scowl melted into a smile of satisfaction. She rose from her seat and walked toward the sink, scrubbing the   
caked up lasagna out of the pyrex pan.  
  
Kurt's eyes stared ahead in thought. "Kitty?"  
  
"Yes, dear?" She answered as she became frustrated with the scuzzed over dish. With a frown, she plunked it back into the dish water. "I'll just let that soak." She thought  
to herself.  
  
"I have been thinking. You know. About Logan." Kurt rasped.  
  
Kitty sighed. Her eyes fell on her husband sitting at the table. "I thought we agreed, we would handle this later."  
  
"You agreed. I fell asleep before I could answer, remember?" Kurt chuckled.  
  
Kitty shook her head, taking the seat next to her husband. "Kurt, please. I know how desperate you are to handle this, but please think of yourself and our children right now."  
Kitty rubbed his back. "You're in no condition at all for this kind of stress. Didn't that little wave earlier this week teach you anything? Please, sweetheart, we'll deal with   
this later."  
  
Kurt groaned in bliss as Kitty's partially-phased fingers kneaded the tight muscles in his shoulders. "And how much later should that be, leibling? Never?" Kurt asked.  
  
Kitty thought a minute. Did he mean that sarcastically? She ignored his intentions. "If you decide never, then so be it. Or, if you do decide that telling him is the thing to do,  
I was thinking sometime after the babies are born and you are alot less pregnant." Kitty rested her head on Kurt's shoulder.  
  
Kurt stared blankly in thought. "I'm going to tell him." He stated flatly.  
  
Kitty lifted her head off Kurt's shoulder. "What?" she managed to spit out.  
Kurt took Kitty in his arms. He was tired, irritated, but he would not take his ill mood out on her. He loved her, and she was his strength. He knew that she was doing only  
what any loving mother and wife would do.  
  
"Don't you see? It's the right decision. For better or worse, Logan has the right to know. Who he was, what he was. I have no right to keep that from him, regardless of the   
consequences. The sooner, the better." Kurt said with finality.  
  
Kitty's face split with a frown. "Kurt, you know that I support your decision, whatever it may be. But like I said. WAIT UNTIL OUR BABIES ARE BORN!! You are not going to make  
yourself sick. Understand?" She scolded.  
  
Kurt bit his tongue. He didn't want to loose his temper. Not with her. Not right now. Not risk making himself ill. He closed his eyes, allowing his intitial anger to subside.  
"Kitty, I am fine. Right as rain. If you can call a pregnant man that." He said, trying to take the edge off of his emotions with a joke. "Mystique's intitial revelation caught me   
off guard, that's all. But I have had time to think, to learn to accept. The shock has past, Kitty." Kurt forced her to look into his eyes. "Putting this off isn't going to make it any  
easier. The sooner this is out, the better."  
  
Kitty rolled her eyes. "Kurt, Logan has waited all his life. Who knows how long that's been? You have waited all your life. That's 28 years. What harm is there in waiting another two  
months? I want to take care of you and our babies, Kurt." Kitty said.  
  
"Kitty, you don't understand. I am doing this for our children. Please." He said, those golden eyes pleading with her. "It's very important. You know that."  
  
Kitty looked into his face. She could see his hope, his dismay. "O.K. Your right. But we will do this together."  
  
"No, Kitty." Kurt disagreed. "Lord in heaven knows I love you. You are my strength, my life. But this is one thing I must do on my own. Do you understand?" Kurt asked, hoping Kitty  
could see that.  
  
Kitty nodded. She loved him, wanted to protect him. Now more than ever. But, deep in her heart, she knew Kurt was right about this. She swallowed hard. "Yes. Yes, I know. But I love  
you! I just don't want you hurt!!"  
  
Kurt smiled. "Kitty, I have prepared myself for all the possibilities. Surely you know that I am stronger than that?"  
  
Kitty smiled. "I know, I know all too well. But still." She snuggled up to him. "So, when do you plan to tell him?"  
  
Kurt sighed. "Tommorrow morning. Right after breakfast."  
  
Kitty bit her bottom lip. After going through this in her mind, she agreed. "Yes. O.K. Tommorrow morning." They were silent for a long  
time, enjoying being in each others arms.  
  
"Kurt?" Kitty broke the silence.  
  
"Yes, my love?" Kurt said.  
  
"You're my life, you and our babies." she said.  
  
Kurt smiled. "As are you, my dear." He returned.  
********************  
  
Worried blue eyes scanned over the data, just as they had so many other times before. For some reason, Hank felt compeled to read the same   
results over and over again, looking for some solution he prayed he may have overlooked before.  
  
But no matter how much he sorted through Kurt's test results, no matter how many times he looked, that glimmer of hope faded as the too-obvious  
truth stared back at him.  
  
"Damn!" Hank shouted to himself, slamming a strong fist in frustration on his desk. His determination once again gave way to hopelessness. The  
EKG Hank took of Kurt at this morning's examination was his worst yet, and Hank knew that things were not going to get any better.  
  
"If only there were some way to end this. If there were some way to terminate Kurt's pregnancy. But there is none. It has to go to term. It is  
a one way road." He rested his head in his folded arms on his desk. "No way at all. And even if there was a way, there is no way Kurt would even  
consider it. He would gladly give his life for these children." Hank did the only thing he felt logical that was left to do. He cried.  
Hank was a man who had once seen the impossible obstacles as fascinating challenges to overcome. And he did. He overcame them all. Except this  
one. Yes, this was the one obstacle that would do him in. He went against everything he was taught as a doctor to prove his scientific genius.  
And now he must pay for it. He wiped the tears from his eyes with the heal of his right hand, not so sure anymore as to whether he wept for Kurt  
or for himself.  
  
He looked around him. Here, in his medlab surrounded by Shiar technology that could do everything but raise the dead. Yet, it could save Hank  
from his sin. He shook his head and returned to sobbing in his arms.  
  
The silent atmosphere of the medlab was broken by a slight shuffle behind him. Startled, he wiped his eyes to face the intruder.  
  
"So, McCoy. Are these crocodile tears you shed for your ill friend?" the figure asked, red eyes glowering from it.  
  
Hank stood in shock. No, it couldn't be. "Sinister." Hank managed to breathe out. "How?"  
  
Sinister chuckled, casually taking the seat on the other side of Hank's desk. "How did I manage to make my way here? Past the security system? Oh, come now,  
McCoy! Surely you know this is one of the easier tasks I have accomplished." He sneered, taking a handful of mints from the candy dish on the desk with one  
pale, clawed hand. "May I?" He sarcastically asked as he helped himself, placing the candy into his festering mouth and allowing his red eyes to pierce McCoy's  
soul.  
  
Hank felt nothing but hatred and hot rage for the being before him. He stood to his feet in defiance. "Get out." He said simply. "Get out before I escort you  
out myself!!"  
  
Sinister merely gave him a look of mock dissappointment. "Now, now, McCoy! Is that any way to treat the man whom is about to help you with your problem?"  
He asked calmly, a wicked sneer painting his face.  
  
McCoy's face gave a look of question. "What? What problem? What are you talking about?" Hank asked, his mind a flurry of questions.  
  
"Now, McCoy, please!!" Sinister stood to his feet, growing dramatic. "We are both men of science!! Geniuses of design!! I am here merely to offer my services to you!  
I am here to help with your little experiment!!"  
  
Hank paused. Searching for the words to say. "What experiment? What are you talking about?"  
  
Sinister returned to his seat. "Still playing dumb, eh? You know very well of which I speak." He was quiet a minute, and a wide grin showed a mouth full of fangs.  
"The teleporter."  
  
Hank stood in shock. He was angered, enraged. "How did you know?"  
  
Sinister laughed. "Oh, please, McCoy! I have my sources!! As a scientist myself, I have been most intrigued by Kurt Wagner's pregnancy. Imagine!! A male carrying   
fetuses to term? Why, I have watched Wagner as closely as you yourself have!!" He laughed once more, then grew solemn. "I must say, this little number has given  
even me a run for my money. I must admit, I am quite jelous. Why, we are cut from the same cloth, you and I." Sinister arose from his chair again, gesturing toward  
Hank with one hand. "I certainly cannot allow a brother in arms to allow such work to flop, can I?" He grinned.  
  
Hank was enraged once more. "How dare you!!" He started, walking toward Sinister. "How dare you compare me to you!!I am nothing like you!! NOTHING!!" Hank screamed at him.  
But what angered Hank the most was knowing fully well what Sinister had just said was partially true.  
  
Sinister's face grew emotionless. "Now, McCoy. There's nothing wrong with being on the dark side of things!! We are all evil, but most are afraid to embrace it as we do."  
He placed an arm around McCoy, causing the mutant's skin to crawl. "Besides, you know very well what I offer you far outweighs your hate for me."  
  
Hank looked down at his feet. Has it come to this? Was he really becoming a man like Sinister? What other choice did he have now? After all, Kurt's life and his unborn  
children's lives were in the balance. Only Hank could tip them in Kurt's favor, and Sinister would have to be the weight that would do that.  
It was the only way. He swallowed back his bitterness and made his gaze back to the white skinned devil before him.  
  
"Oh, please." Hank said pathetically. "Help me. Please." Hank was begging now, and fell to a pile before Sinister's feet. "It's too late for me now, but not for Kurt, not for  
his children. I'll do anything. Anything at all. For God's sake, HELP THEM!!" He pleaded, looking up into Sinister's face.  
  
"Of course! Of course!! I am at your service!! I already have the solution lined out. I assure you, Wagner and his children will be safe." He smiled.  
  
"Well, then?" Hank asked, rising back to his feet. "What is it? Tell me!" Hank insisted.  
  
"Tsk, tsk. Soon. Now is not the proper time." Sinister said, stroking his goatee.  
  
Hank was confused. "But you said..."  
  
"Yes, and I have every intention of helping you. But not right now. Soon, when the time is right, I will appear before you again. I will know when the time  
is right."  
  
Hank nodded. "I don't understand? When will that be?"  
  
Sinister shook his head. "Best not to say too much. All will be revealed to you. Every last detail."  
  
Hank slumped back into his chair, a mixture of relief and regret sweeping over him.  
  
Sinister made his way to the medlab door, giving Hank one final glance. "I will see myself out. Oh, and McCoy?"  
  
Hank looked up. "Yes?"   
  
"You do know my services do not come without a price?" Sinister asked.  
  
Hank swallowed hard. With Sinister, there was always a price, wasn't there? "Yes, I am fully aware."  
  
"And, I can count on you to keep your word on it's payment upon rendition of my service?" Sinister asked.  
  
Hank nodded. "Yes, whatever it takes. It will be paid. My word." Hank said.  
  
"I'm sure. We will be seeing each other. Shortly. " His evil smile burned into Hank's memory as he walked out the   
medlab door.  
  
"My God." Hank said to himself. "What have I done?"  
  
****************  
  
Remy Lebeau waited patiently for his master. Hew wasn't worried. He knew Sinister well. He would arrive with his  
payment. Soon.  
  
The cold air at the edge of Breakstone Lake chilled him to the bone. Soon, he would have his reward. The Cajun's work  
would be done. And he and the love of his life would be together forever.  
  
"I see you awaited patiently?" Sinister asked as he met Remy in their usual spot.  
  
Remy nodded nervously. "Oui. Did exactly as ya asked. How did it go?" Remy asked, more concerned with his payment that  
Sinister's mission.  
  
Sinister smiled in satisfaction. "Smoother than anticipated. I must say, Lebeau, you've done excellent work. Work, for which now  
you will be handsomely rewarded." Sinister said, producing a vial with an ominous, glowing green liquid.  
  
Remy's eyes lit up. "Is dat it?" He gasped, reaching for the vial. "Will dat do it?"  
  
"Yes, my boy. At long last, you will be able to touch your precious Rogue." Sinister promised.  
  
"Forever?" Remy asked.  
  
"Till death do you part. You have my word." Sinister said, tossing him the vial.  
  
"So, what do I do wit it?" Remy asked, holding it up to the light to inspect it.  
  
"Tommorrow morning, you must drink this vial. After 24 hours, you will be able to touch her, hold her,  
be with her in every sense of the word." He said.  
  
Remy smiled. His lifelong dream would soon be reality. He looked at Sinister gratefully, running back toward  
the mansion with his prize.  
  
"Yes." Sinister said to himself, watching the young man leave. "Till death do you part." 


End file.
